Punjab jailbreak: Terrorist Mintoo arrested in Delhi (Fourth Lead)

Khalistani terrorist Harminder Singh Mintoo was arrested at a railway station in Delhi on Monday morning, a day after he escaped from a high security prison in Punjab.

The Khalistan Liberation Force (KCF) leader was nabbed from the Nizamuddin railway station by the Special Cell of Delhi Police, Special Commissioner of Police Arvind Deep told IANS.

"He was arrested between 1 and 2 a.m.," Deep said. "He had reached Delhi by changing a number of buses and was headed from Nizamuddin to Panvel (in Maharashtra)."

His plan was to then travel to Goa and from there flee the country, said a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity.

According to the officer, Mintoo, after his escape, entered Haryana, where he took a bus from Kurukshetra to Panipat and then boarded another bus to reach Delhi.

An earlier report said the arrest followed a joint operation by Punjab Police and Delhi Police.

Asked if this was true, Deep said the Punjab Police had "alerted us that Mintoo might go towards Delhi.

"So we formed several teams which kept vigil at strategic locations. He was spotted by our men at the Nizamuddin station."

The arrest happened within 24 hours after Mintoo, another terrorist and four gangsters broke out of the Nabha Jail in Punjab on Sunday morning after it was attacked by 10-12 armed men.

Punjab Police officials had said on Sunday that the escaped prisoners had fled towards Haryana.

Mintoo was arrested in 2014 with 10 cases against him. The other terrorist who escaped on Sunday was Kashmir Singh Galwadi.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said a report had been sought from the Punjab government and promised the Centre's assistance to nab those on the run.

"The Home Ministry has been doing whatever needs to be done," Singh said in Delhi.

"This (jailbreak) is a state subject and the Home Ministry has already sent advisories to states in this regard. The state (Punjab) government is looking into the matter," he said.

Mintoo would be presented in a court in Delhi and handed over to Punjab Police on transit remand.

On Sunday evening, Parminder Singh alias Pamma Singh, one of the alleged gunmen who carried out the sensational jailbreak, was caught in Shamli district in Uttar Pradesh.

The attackers, dressed in police uniform, breached the prison security around 9 a.m. and fired at least 100 rounds during the well-planned attack that lasted barely 10 minutes.

After the jailbreak, a police team shot dead a woman travelling in a car which failed to stop at a barricade.

--IANS

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