Patiala police arrest two gangsters, seize 5 pistols

With the arrest of two operatives from Rajpura, the Patiala police have busted a module involved in targeted killings. The module was being operated by foreign-based gangster Goldy Dhillon, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav here on Friday.

Those arrested have been identified as Malkit Singh, alias Max, a native of Rodala village in Ajnala, Amritsar, and Sandeep Singh, alias Deep, a resident of Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib.

Police teams have also seized five pistols along with 15 cartridges and 1,300 intoxicant tablets from their possession. The police have impounding a scooter also.

The DGP said preliminary investigation had revealed that both the accused were wanted in two criminal cases pertaining to extortion and were also tasked by their handler Goldy Dhillon to execute targeted killings in Mohali and Rajpura.

The accused were habitual offenders having history of criminal activities, with multiple cases pertaining to NDPS Act, Arms Act, attempt to murder, extortion, dacoity, snatching, etc. registered against them, he added.

The DGP said further investigation was on to establish backward and forward linkages in the case. More arrests and recoveries were likely in coming days, he added.

Sharing details of the operation, Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Nanak Singh said teams of the Special Cell, Rajpura, received a tip-off that two gangsters, who were on the way to deliver intoxicant tablets to someone on the Sirhind-Rajpura road, had a plan to carry out a targeted killing in Rajpura.

Acting swiftly, the Special Cell led by Inspector Harry Boparai launched an intelligence-based operation and managed to locate and arrest both the accused after recovering weapons and drugs from their possession, he said.

The SSP said two prominent persons, who had also received threat calls from a foreign-based gangster, were on target of the accused.

A case has been registered under Section 22 of the NDPS Act and Section 25 of the Arms Act at the Sadar Rajpura police station in Patiala.