Robber killed in gunfight, 4 held in Tarn Taran

Our Correspondent

Tarn Taran, January 18

A robber was killed and four of his accomplices were nabbed by the police after an hour-long encounter near Patti, 25 km from here, today.

Two policemen — Bikramjit Singh and Sarabjit Singh — both from Home Guard, sustained bullet injuries in the cross-firing and were taken to a private hospital in a serious condition. The slain robber, Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi, of Jatta village allegedly consumed some poisonous substance after being surrounded by the police. Those arrested were identified as Jagjit Singh Jaggi of Naushehra Pannuan, Gurpreet Singh Fateh of Bhullar, Gurjinder Singh of Manakpura and Sukhwinder Singh of Gandiwind Dhattal village. All of them sustained injuries and were admitted to the Patti Civil Hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable. According to the police, the gang had robbed seven petrol stations in the border areas on Sunday evening.

Tarn Taran SSP Dhruman H Nimbale said police teams had been looking for them after seven back-to-back robberies at petrol stations in the district on Sunday.

The gang equipped with firearms carried out more robberies today — a chemist was shot at during a hold-up at Naurangabad village, while another man was fired upon at Dhotian village, before a petrol station was looted at Jamarai village. After their Swift Desire car ran out of fuel, they snatched a car at gunpoint from a motorist, Kultar Singh, at Dehra Sahib. Alerted by the victim, police from different stations engaged them in a pursuit. The car was signalled to pull over at a checkpoint near the Sarhali Mandan railway crossing, but the occupants reversed it and tried to speed away. In the process, the car landed in the fields.

The occupants opened fire at the police, injuring one of the cops. The police retaliated, injuring Jagjit, while his accomplice Gupreet also fell to the ground. Later, Gupreet allegedly consumed some poisonous substance and died. The three others fled towards the fields and entered a marriage palace. The police teams surrounded the palace and asked them to surrender, said the SSP. The accused, however, continued to fire injuring another cop. After an hour-long cross-fire, the accused surrendered.