Accused of Uttarakhand dera chief's murder killed in police shootout

The police said another accused Sarabjit Singh fled from the spot in Haridwars Kaliyar, and a search is underway to nab him.A reward of Rs 1 lakh has also been announced on Sarabjit Singh, a resident of the Tarn Taran district in Punjab.Director General of Police Abhinav Kumar said that late on Monday evening, the STF received a tip-off that the criminals wanted in the murder case were going from Saharanpur to Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh via Bhagwanpur and Kaliyar in Haridwar.Kumar said that based on the information, the police and STF jointly conducted operations at various places in Haridwar.

Amarjeet Singh Bittu alias Ganda, one of the assailants who allegedly shot dead Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara dera kar seva chief Baba Tarsem Singh last month, was killed by a joint team of the STF and police in an encounter on Tuesday.

Bittu had a bounty of Rs 1 lakh on his head. The police said another accused Sarabjit Singh fled from the spot in Haridwar's Kaliyar, and a search is underway to nab him.

A reward of Rs 1 lakh has also been announced on Sarabjit Singh, a resident of the Tarn Taran district in Punjab.

Director General of Police Abhinav Kumar said that late on Monday evening, the STF received a tip-off that the criminals wanted in the murder case were going from Saharanpur to Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh via Bhagwanpur and Kaliyar in Haridwar.

Kumar said that based on the information, the police and STF jointly conducted operations at various places in Haridwar. Around 12:30 am, when the police team tried to stop two suspicious people moving on a motorcycle at the Gagalhedi intersection in Bhagwanpur, both of them started fleeing towards Imlikheda-Kaliyar, the DGP said.

When the police surrounded both the accused, they allegedly started firing. In the retaliatory action of the police, Bittu was shot while Sarabjit Singh escaped from the spot taking advantage of the darkness, according to the DGP.

The injured accused was taken to the Civil Hospital Roorkee, where doctors declared him brought dead, the DGP further said. Bittu alias Ganda has a long criminal history and several cases are registered against him and his associates in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for allegedly harbouring terrorists, raising slogans in support of Khalistan, robbing banks etc.

Considering the sensitivity of the case, apart from forming a six-member SIT, 11 teams were formed to unravel the murder case. Seven other accused were already arrested in the case during the investigation.

Baba Tarsem Singh was shot dead on March 28 on the shrine's premises by two motorcycle-borne men in Udham Singh Nagar district.

Besides the two assailants, the police have booked retired IAS officer Harbans Singh Chugh, who heads the Nanakmatta Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Baba Anup Singh and Pritam Singh Sandhu, the vice-president of a regional Sikh outfit, in the murder case.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)