The drive launched on the directions of Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann got a major breakthrough on the second day in a row after Punjab Police's Anti Gangster Task Force (AGTF) on Saturday has arrested a main shooter of Bhupi Rana gang from Barwala (Haryana), said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here.
The arrested accused has been identified as Ankit Rana, who was running an extortion racket in the area of Zirakpur and Panchkula. The police have also recovered one .32 bore pistol along with five live cartridges from him.The development came a day after the arrest of a member of Lawrance Bishnoi Gang, identified as Bunty, from Dhakoli.
The DGP said the AGTF in a joint operation with District Police SAS Nagar have succeeded in arresting gangster Ankit Rana with a .32 bore pistol along with 5 cartridges.He said that Ankit had been wanted in the Baltana encounter case took place in the month of July, 2022.
Notably, in Baltana operation, three gangsters of Bhupi Rana gang were arrested, while, one of the gangsters got injured in retaliation fire and two Punjab police officials had also sustained injuries in this police action.He was arrested in case FIR No. 340 dated 17-07-2022 registered under sections 353, 186, 307 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25 of the Arms Act at Police Station Zirakpur.
The DGP said that Ankit Rana was also wanted in many criminal cases pertaining to attempt to murder, arms act and extortion etc, registered in the states of Haryana and Punjab. He was involved in extorting money from 15 hotels in Zirkapur and 10 hotels in Panchkula, besides, other renowned businessmen of this area, he added.
Meanwhile, further investigations are on to dig deeper in his involvement in criminal activities.