Wanted criminal held in Bathinda, pistol seized

Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF), Punjab, in a joint operation with Bathinda police, apprehended a wanted criminal identified as Ranjit Singh alias Sapp of Bangi Nihal Singh village in Bathinda, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav on Saturday.

Police teams have also seized one illegal .32 bore pistol along with four live cartridges from his possession.

Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused is a close associate of gangster Rammi Machana and was wanted in two criminal cases.

He said that earlier, the police had seized 130 gm of heroin, one 9 mm country-made pistol with six live cartridges and one country-made .12 bore pistol from his residence. His mother, Paramjit Kaur, was arrested at that time, while the accused had managed to flee, he said.

The DGP said that further investigation is on to establish backward and forward linkages in this case.

Sharing operation details, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) AGTF Promod Ban said that acting on reliable inputs, police teams from AGTF led by DSP AGTF Rajan Parminder in coordination with Bathinda police have arrested Ranjit from Bhagwanpura village in Bathinda.

SSP Bathinda Amneet Kondal said that Ranjit Singh has a criminal background with multiple cases registered against him, including murder, house trespass with intent to cause hurt, Arms Act, Prisons Act and NDPS Act violations.