Police bust extortion racket, arrest gangster Harry Chatha’s key aide

Chandigarh, November 4

The Punjab Police busted an extortion racket operated by gangster Harry Chatha with the arrest of his key associate following a brief encounter in Batala, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Saturday.

The key associate, arrested near Balpurian village, was identified as Navneet Singh, alias Nav, of Batala, Yadav said.

Three more people—Gagandeep Singh alias Kaala, Balraj Singh and Prem Kumar—were also arrested.

Harpreet Singh, Sukhraj Singh and Darshan Singh, who were in different jails, were also booked in this case, police said.

Police also recovered four pistols—a 9mm Glock pistol and three country-made pistols—along with live cartridges from their possession.

DGP Yadav said two cases of extortion were reported in Batala recently wherein members of the Harry Chatha gang had opened fire outside a shop of a travel agent on October 28 and a house of a local businessman on October 7, after the victims failed to pay extortion money.

Based on specific inputs, the Batala police started chasing a car. Accused Navneet Singh, who was driving the car, started firing at the police team, he said.

Police teams fired back, injuring Navneet who was shot in the leg.

Accused Navneet Singh has been admitted to the hospital for medical treatment, he added.

Batala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ashwini Gotyal said following technical inputs, police managed to arrest three more people of this module from different locations for their direct involvement in carrying out the shooting.

Further investigations are underway, Gotyal said.