Pardeep Singh murder: Sixth shooter arrested by Punjab Police's AGTF

Sixth shooter involved in the killing of Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh, was arrested by the Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force after a brief encounter in Jaipur Sunday

The sixth shooter involved in the killing of Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh, was arrested by the Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) after a brief encounter in Jaipur, on Sunday, the Punjab Police informed through a press release.

"The ongoing drive to make Punjab a crime-free state, which was launchd on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, achieved a major breakthrough," the release stated.

Singh was killed by six shooters outside his shop in Kotkapura on November 10, 2022. The conspiracy to kill him was hatched by Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar, Punjab Police said.

Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab, Gaurav Yadav identified the arrested accused as Ramjan Khan alias Raj Hooda. Two of his accomplices, who were also arrested, were identified as Happy Mehla (19) and Sahil Mehla (18), both residents of Hanumanghar in Rajasthan, he said.

He added that the police also recovered two pistols -- Chinese-made Star of 0.30 and 0.32 calibre -- from his possession.

As per the release, the encounter took place three days after Punjab Police arrested three persons involved in the targeted killing. It included the two main shooters identified as Manpreet Singh alias Mani and Bhupinder Singh alias Goldy.

The third person arrested was a facilitator identified as Baljit Singh alias Manna.

On Saturday, the police teams also recovered two pistols, a Maruti Ritz car and a Jupiter scooty on the basis of information from Mani and Goldy.

DGP Gaurav Yadav informed that acting on human intelligence, teams from AGTF headed by ADGP Pramod Ban, and supervised by AIG Sandeep Goel, followed the accused, Ramjan Khan.

After collecting vital clues, the police teams of AGTF led by DSP Bikram Brar and DSP Rajan Parminder managed to trace his location in a building at Vinayak Enclave Colony in Jaipur, where he was holed up with his two accomplices at a rented accommodation.

An FIR had been registered under sections 302, 307, 148, 149 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act at Kotkapura police station with regard to the killing, the release said.

The DGP further said in the well-coordinated operation with central agencies and Rajasthan Police, the AGTF team managed to zero in on Ramjan Khan at his rented accommodation.

"When police teams tried to arrest and apprehend Ramjan, he opened fire at the police party and in retaliatory firing, he was injured," the DGP said.