Chandigarh: The Punjab Police on Saturday arrested another member of the Dilpreet-Rinda gang, allegedly involved in the attack on well-known Punjabi singer Parmish Verma.
This is Punjab Police’s second big arrest in about a month, since Dilpreet, who had also threatened the singer on Facbook, had been nabbed.
Wanted by the police of three states, Akash, a 21-year-old sharp shooter, was nabbed after a 9-kilometer chase that ended in exchange of fire in Sighpura area of Rupnagar. A foreign-made mouser and bullets were recovered from his possession.
A resident of Nanded Sahib, Maharashtra, he was wanted in five cases of murder and 13 cases of dacoity, robbery and the Arms Act, by the police of Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab. In the world of organised crime since the age of 17, Akash had been in Punjab for the past few months.
Rupnagar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Swapan Sharma said no policeman was injured in the cross-firing, that took place when the gangster’s vehicle got stuck near a drain in Singhpura. The gangster sustained a bullet injury on his left shoulder in the operation that was led by the DSP and CIA 1 and CIA 2 of the Rupnagar Police.
Reports suggest that Akash was a constant companion to Dilpreet and was his accomplice in the daring attack on the Punjabi singer in Mohali, along with many other cases, including broad daylight murders in different parts of the country.
Akash, who had been rallying the gang members to free Dilpreet Singh Dahal from police custody during court hearings Dilpreet’s his arrest last month, had snatched a Forutuner vehicle from Anandpur Sahib at gun point on Friday. District Police was on red alert, keeping tabs at all vantage points and escape routes, and gave a hot chase to Akash, said Sharma. According to Sharma, Dilpreet’s gang members had done a complete recce in the districts in which cases against him had been registered.
Sharma, who guided the operation, has been responsible for the arrest of several hardcore criminals during his police career, including Laurence Bishnoi and Devinder shooter. He took charge of Rupnagar Police three weeks ago.
Criminal activity and the consequent scare created by gangsters, who had developed deep roots during the Akali regime from 2007-2017, have been dealt a strong blow during the present government. In the first 15 months of Capt. Amarinder Singh’s government 922 members/persons of various criminal gangs have been arrested and seven, including Vicky Gounder, Prema Loharia, Savinder Parbjot and Manna, have been neutralized.
