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 @ 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 one 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 Neeraj Sharma @ Ashu @ Sehajpal r/o Ludhiana, others arrested have been identified as Mandeep @Mana r/o Jalandhar, Deepak @Manna r/o Ludhiana, Gurwinder Singh @Gindi r/o Jalandhar and Navdeep Kaur @Pooja r/o Jalandhar. A criminal case u/s 399,402 IPC and 25 Arms Act has been registered against them in PS Gobingarh Mandi.Mandeep Singh @Manna r/o Jalandhar, 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 Creta car from Hoshiarpur in February, 2020. Another accused Deepak@ Mana r/o 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 @ 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 @ Ginda r/o Lassuri PS Shahkot district Jalandhar and Navdeep Kaur @ Pooja r/o district 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 02.09.20, he was carrying 1kg opium in one snatched I-20 car and stopped at Banur naka where he managed to flee from the spot after leaving his car. In a separate case, Punjab Police has also arrested criminal Bhuvnesh Chopra @ Ashish Chopra r/o Ferozepur from Yamuna Nagar, Haryana, and one .32 bore pistol along with 12 cartridges have been recovered from him. A criminal case had been registered against him at PS SSOC, Fazilka on 07.08.2020 under the Arms & NDPS Act.Bhuvnesh Chopra was also wanted by the SAS Nagar Police in murder case of Inderjit Singh Sidhu @ Dhinda r/o 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.