Weapons, SUV and uniform recovered from the gang led by 'Badshah', Punjab’s ex-cop

Having attempted a robbery at a house of Gurcharan Singh Romana, son-in-law of former BJP minister Surinder Pal Singh TT, in Chak 42 GG village in Sriganganagar, the police have made further headway.

Superintendent of Police Dr Amrita Dohan said that at the behest of the four arrested accused, the police have recovered two pistols, three magazines, 21 cartridges, a Scorpio vehicle and a fake police uniform worn at the time of the crime.

The main accused, Baljinder Singh alias Badshah, is an interstate criminal who was previously a commando of the Punjab Police.

The fourth member of the gang, Chander Singh Rawat alias Sonu, of Kishangarh near Chandigarh, has also been arrested.

The SP said that a youth, Bobby, from the same village, had entrusted the task to “Badshah” of Khatrai Kalan village, Ajnala, Amritsar.

He was recently held along with his son Sarabjit Singh alias Chhinda and accomplice Surinder Singh of Chand Vihar, New Delhi. Baljinder Singh had served as a commando in the Punjab Police for about 8 years and also served as a Personal Security Officer (PSO) to a senior police officer in Jagraon.

"Badshah" has a total of 40 cases registered against him in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana for attempted murder, robbery, assault, and snatching. He has been imprisoned for a total of 17 years in various jails, including Tihar Jail.

His gang used to commit robberies by posing as police officials. Bobby, who had an old enmity with the Romana family, runs a snacks restaurant in Jagraon where “Badshah” was a regular visitor.

Bobby gave “Badshah” detailed information about the Romana family and the latter planned the robbery. On October 19, a Scorpio vehicle with flashing police lights reached Romana’s village. Six people, one of them wearing a police uniform with a constable's badge on his shoulder, entered Romana’s house and assaulted him to get keys to the safe vault.

They searched for the DVR of the CCTV cameras but failed. In their haste, they snatched an LED TV which was thrown outside. The criminals managed to take away two mobile phones. Investigation indicated that the “Badshah” gang had robbed Rs 3.5 lakh from the Punjab National Bank in Parlika village, Hanumangarh, in 2005.

The police had arrested him from Hastinapur, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. He escaped from Nohar jail in 2006.