Suspected member of Bhagwanpuria gang, wanted in Punjab firing case, held in Gujarat
Accused Sukhpinder Singh alias Sukhi was found at a hotel in Palanpur, the administrative headquarters of Banaskantha district in north-eastern Gujarat, on August 22
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Tuesday said it has nabbed a man, suspected to be associated with gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria's syndicate and facing attempted murder charge in connection with a firing case lodged in Punjab's Gurdaspur district last month.
The accused, Sukhpinder Singh alias Sukhi, was found at a hotel in Palanpur, the administrative headquarters of Banaskantha district in north-eastern Gujarat, on August 22, an official release said here.
Police in Batala tehsil of Gurdaspur district in July registered an FIR against him for allegedly opening fire near the shop of a local resident. Following the firing, Sukhpinder Singh was booked under sections 109 (attempt to murder) and 324(4) (mischief causing property loss of Rs 20,000 or more) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Arms Act.
Acting on a tip-off that Sukhpinder Singh, allegedly associated with the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang, was present in Palanpur, an ATS team carried out verification and found him at a hotel in the town bordering Rajasthan. He was subsequently brought to the ATS office in Ahmedabad for questioning, according to the release.
During preliminary questioning, the accused allegedly admitted that on July 20 he and his associates, Sahibdeep Singh, Gagandeep Singh and Vikramjit Singh alias Vicky, had fired near the shop of a local resident, Mehakdeep Singh, the complainant in the case, the release said.
After the incident, Sukhpinder Singh allegedly went to his aunt's house in a village in Punjab's Qadian area and handed over his licensed .30-06 rifle to his cousin before moving through Delhi, Hyderabad and Nanded in Maharashtra before reaching Palanpur, it said.
Sukhpinder Singh, a native of Gurdaspur district, has a criminal history and has been named in several cases in Punjab and Gujarat, including those related to attempted murder and offences under the Arms Act. He had spent nine months in a Dubai jail in 2021 in a drugs-related case, said the ATS.
The Punjab police have been informed about Sukhpinder Singh's detention and the process of his handover for further legal action in his native state was underway, the release added.
