'Three shooters arrested in cloth merchant murder case,' says Punjab Police Chief

Three out of the five suspected shooters involved in the killing of a cloth merchant in Jalandhar district has been arrested, Punjab Police chief said on Wednesday.

One of the mastermind of the crime has been identified as Amandeep Singh, a resident of Yuba county in California, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said.

Bhupinder Singh alias Timmy Chawla, 39, who was under police protection, was shot dead by five people on December 7 in Jalandhar's Nakodar. He had been given police protection after he complained of getting extortion calls.

One .30 bore pistol has also been recovered from the three arrested men, said Yadav.

Constable Mandeep Singh, who was deployed as Bhupinder's security guard, was also killed in the shootout.

The incident drew sharp reactions from the Opposition parties over the law and order situation in the state.

Addressing the media, Yadav said the Jalandhar Rural Police has worked out the case with the arrest of three shooters involved in the crime.

He said preliminary investigation has revealed that extortion calls on November 1 and November 8 were made by Amandeep Singh, who is originally from Malrhi village, a place close to Jalandhar.

Yadav said Amandeep and his key associate Gurinder Singh Ginda who also is a resident of Malrhi village, were the two masterminds behind the murder.

Five shooters were engaged to kill Bhupinder, with Ginda arranging three .30 bore pistols for the shooters, said Yadav.

Shooters who had come on two bikes were identified as Khushkaran Singh alias Fauji, Kamaldeep Singh alias Deep, Manda Singh, Satpal, and Thakur, he said.

Khushkaran, Kamaldeep, and Manda have been arrested, said the DGP.

Before the killing, two Bathinda-based men, Amrik Singh and Sajan, had done the recce of the area. Both are absconding, said Yadav.

One of the two SUVs used in the recce has also been recovered, said police.

The two bikes used by the shooters were thrown into a canal. A search is on for them and they will be fished out soon, said police.

Yadav said the shooters roped in for the crime were not connected to any organised criminal gang. Bhupinder was the third police protectee to be shot dead in a little over a month.

Last month, Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri was shot dead in Amritsar. Soon after, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower named Pardeep Singh too was murdered in Faridkot. Replying to a question on the rocket-propelled grenade attack at the Sarhali police station in Tarn Taran, the DGP said the mastermind behind the crime has been identified. However, he refused to share further information on it.

He said the investigation into the RPG attack case was at an advanced stage.

To another query, he said the security audit of all police stations were being undertaken and security has been tightened.

To a query, the DGP said weapons are coming through drones from across the border, adding that 225 drone crossings were seen this year alone.

Yadav said the state government has approved Rs 110 crore for the upgradation of intelligence network and cyber-crime cell.

Yadav said the state police is focusing on its modernization.

The DGP said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has approved Rs 30 crore for the upgradation of cyber-crime cell. ''Rs 80 crore has also been approved by the CM for upgradation of intelligence network,'' he further added.

He further said a proposal of Rs 150 crore has also been sent to the Centre for upgradation of the border police stations. ''We are hopeful of getting the support from the Centre,'' he added.

Yadav said when Mann met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the latter approved Rs 100 crore for setting up an ultra-modern jail in the state.