Ludhiana dacoity: Four hardcore criminals including a woman nailed by Punjab police

Ludhiana dacoity: Four hardcore criminals including a woman nailed by Punjab police

One held in Kharar murder case

Harshabab Sidhu
Nabaz-e-Punjab Bureau, Mohali, September 4:
In a coordinated operation, Punjab Police has solved the Rs 14.5 Lakh Ludhiana gambling den dacoity case with the arrest of the absconding mastermind Neeraj Sharma alias Ashu, along with his four accomplices, including a woman, from Mandi Gobindgarh.
Neeraj Sharma, who has several criminal cases of dacoity, robbery, attempt to murder registered against him over the last ten years, was also absconding in a June 2020 attempt to murder case near Shingar cinema, Ludhiana, said the DGP.
The gang was hatching similar dacoities/lootings in Mandi Gobindgarh and Hoshiarpur, which have been averted with their arrest, disclosed Punjab Police DGP Dinkar Gupta. They were planning to rob 4 kg gold from a goldsmith in Hoshiarpur, Gupta added.
One .32 bore pistol and 15 live cartridges have been recovered from their possession along with a Hyundai i20 car.
The operation was led by SSP Fatehgarh Sahib Amneet Kondal in close coordination with Ludhiana Police led by SP Counter Intelligence Rupinder Kaur Bhatti.
Apart from Ashu, others arrested have been identified as Mandeep alias Mana, a resident of Jalandhar, Deepak alias Manna, a resident of Ludhiana, Gurwinder Singh alias Gindi, a resident of Jalandhar and Navdeep Kaur alias Pooja, a resident of Jalandhar. A case under Sections 399,402 IPC and 25 of the Arms Act has been registered against them at the Mandi Gobingarh police station.
Manna, a proclaimed offender who was initially arrested in October 2017 by OCCU Patiala, has 13 criminal cases registered against him including attempt to murder and carjacking. He was bailed out in 2019 and was absconding since January 2020. He fled away from the spot of encounter at Mehalpur, Hoshiarpur in March 2020 and his associate Varinder Shooter was neutralized by Punjab Police. He had snatched one Innova from Sultanpuri Lodhi in 2017 and one Hyundai Creta car from Hoshiarpur in February this year.
Another accused Deepak of Ludhiana, who runs a garment shop has admitted to his involvement and taking share of Rs 1 lakh from the total 14.5 lakhs. He has revealed to have given two .32 bore pistols to Puneet alias Mani Bains. His car was being used in different crimes and the same has also been recovered from him.
Two more persons who are convicts in NDPS case namely Gurinder Singh alias Ginda and Pooja, both residents of Jalandhar, have been arrested in this connection. Ginda has been convicted for 10 years rigorous imprisonment in NDPS case in Sri Muktsar Sahib district. On Wednesday, he was carrying 1kg opium in a snatched i20 car. When stopped at Banur naka, he managed to flee from the spot after leaving his car.
In a separate case, Punjab Police has also arrested criminal Bhuvnesh Chopra alias Ashish Chopra, a resident of Yamuna Nagar, Haryana, and a .32 bore pistol along with 12 cartridges have been recovered from him. A criminal case had been registered against him at Police station SSOC, Fazilka on August 7 under the Arms and the NDPS Act.
Bhuvnesh Chopra was also wanted by the Mohali Police in the murder case of Inderjit Singh Sidhu alias Dhinda, a resident of Ferozepur which took place on September 7, 2019 at Kharar. Bhuvnesh and Happy had fired indiscriminately at Inderjit Singh in which he had succumbed to his injuries.