Police arrest 3 accused in Shiv Sena leader’s murder case

Moga police has arrested three accused involved in the murder of Mangat Ram alias Manga, the Moga district president of Shiv Sena Bal Thackeray (Shinda Group), following an encounter in Muktsar district. The arrests came 36 hours after the killing, which took place on Thursday evening in Moga.

Following the murder, the police had registered a criminal case under Sections 103(1), 191(3), 190 of the BNS, and 25, 27/54/59 of the Arms Act against several individuals, including Sikander, Virender, Jagga, Sahil Kumar alias Lambi, Arun Singla of Mohalla Angadpura, and Shankar alias Rajput alias Sahil of Mata Wala Vehra, Ward No. 23, Moga.

Police claimed that during the investigation, a video uploaded on an Instagram account was discovered, in which three youths were seen claiming responsibility for the murder. Among them, one suspect, Arun alias Singha, had already been named in seven FIRs across Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Two other suspects were identified as Arun alias Deepu and Rajvir Singh alias Lafu. Both the accused were also found to be facing multiple criminal cases in Muktsar, Ludhiana and Moga districts.

A joint team of CIA Moga and CIA Malout tracked the suspects to Malout bus stand in Muktsar on Saturday morning. As the police approached, the accused opened fire, prompting self-defence action from police. In the exchange of fire, all three suspects — Singha, Deepu and Lafu — sustained injuries. They were immediately taken to Civil Hospital, Malout, for treatment.

According to the police, the murder of Mangat Ram and the attack on Davinder Kumar, a salon owner in Moga, on the same evening, were linked to personal enmity between rival groups.

The police also recovered two pistols and a motorcycle from the accused at the scene. Police teams are continuing raids to track down the remaining accused, who are expected to be arrested soon, said a police spokesperson.