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Punjab Police get tough with gangsters, 7 encounters in three weeks

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Jupinderjit Singh

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Chandigarh, December 17

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Going hard against gangsters is the new mantra of the Punjab Police as the AAP government starts preparing for the Lok Sabha elections while claiming a peaceful and prosperous Punjab.

Going all out

  • Nov 29 Two gangsters Sanjeev Kumar and Shubham Gopi, wanted in the Sambhav Jain kidnapping case, were killed in exchange of fire with the Ludhiana police at Tibba bridge on the Ludhiana-Doraha road.
  • Dec 13 Gangster Jassa Happowal of Nawanshahr shot at as he tried to flee from police custody at Peermuchalla in Mohali district.
  • Dec 13 Ludhiana police eliminated gangster Sukhdev Singh, alias Vicky, in a police encounter on the Kohara-Machhiwara road at Panjeta village. The gangster was facing 28 criminal cases.
  • Dec 15 Gangster Paramjit Singh suffered bullet injury in one of his feet in an encounter with the Mansa CIA police. The police had taken the accused to a field for recovery of hidden weapons, where he opened fire at the police and tried to escape.
  • Dec 16 Two criminals, Rajpura resident Paramveer Singh and Karamjit Singh of Kurukshetra, were injured in a police encounter near Saneta. Both were involved in more than 12 crimes.
  • Dec 16 Gangster Malkit Singh Chitta suffered a gunshot injury in one of his knees in an encounter with the police at Passiana village in Patiala. He was wanted in a murder case of a salon owner.
  • Dec 17 Moga police arrested three members of the Bambiha gang following an encounter in Moga on Sunday.

“We are not trigger-happy against criminals, but are not trigger-shy also if the criminals try to escape, shoot at us or target civilians,” said a senior police official involved in a recent encounter reflecting the new strategy.

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Seven encounters have taken place between the police and gangsters in last three weeks in Ludhiana, Mansa, Patiala and Mohali, causing death of two gangsters and injuries to six. Four cops have also suffered gunshot injuries. Six of these encounters have taken place in the last four days only,

Sources said the police had got a go-ahead from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to end the menace of gangsters. Police spokesman IG Sukhchain Singh had hinted at the hard stance against the criminals in a press conference earlier this week, saying that the CM had given clear instructions that no criminal would be allowed to raise his head in the state.

This is a major shift from the Punjab Police policy towards hardened criminals, especially gangsters. Barring killing of two shooters Maanu Kussa and Jagroop Roopa in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case, isolated cases of encounters with gangsters have happened. It is for the first time in the present government that back-to-back encounters have taken place.

In at least three cases an encounter happened when an arrested gangster/shooter was taken to some spot to recover a hidden weapon and he managed to fire at the police with the same weapon. He was either injured or eliminated in retaliatory fire.

Sources said the government wanted to give a stern message to the gangsters to desist from criminal activity in the state.

In this year, the police have registered 130 FIRs regarding extortion calls made by the gangsters and arrested 117 accused. Punjab has estimated 2,000 gangsters who are part of nearly 500 gangs or modules, which come under the umbrella of 10 main gangs.

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