The ongoing drive to eradicate organised crime in the state as per the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann got a major breakthrough after the Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of the Punjab Police in a follow-up operation arrested two more operatives of a terror module operated by foreign-based mastermind Iqbalpreet Singh alias Buchi, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Simarjot Singh of Ludhiana and Arshpreet Singh alias Arsh of Patiala. Police teams have also recovered two pistols— one .30 calibre and one .32 calibre— along with 11 live cartridges from their possession.The development came close on the heels of the arrest of four members of this module including key operative Gurwinder Singh alias Shera after recovering three pistols along with 13 live cartridges from their possession on May 14, 2024.
Pertinently, Iqbalpreet Buchi is a close associate of Ramandeep Bagga alias Canadian, who was the main shooter in seven target killings that took place during 2016-2017 and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) charges. DGP Gaurav Yadav said that acting on the reliable inputs, AGTF teams under the supervision of ADGP Promod Ban raided a house located in the area of Kochar Market road in Ludhiana and arrested both the accused persons after recovering weapons from their possession.
Police teams were headed by AIG Gurmeet Singh Chauhan and AIG Sandeep Goel and led by DSP Bikramjit Singh Brar. He said that Punjab Police has averted the sensational crimes in Punjab and neighbouring states with the arrest of both operatives. Both the arrested accused persons have criminal backgrounds with cases of murder, attempt to murder, Arms Act and NDPS Act registered against them in Punjab and Rajasthan, he added.
The DGP said that further investigations are on to trace the backward and forward linkages in this case. A case FIR no. 21 dated 13/05/02024 had already been registered under section 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25(6)(7) of the Arms Act Police Station State Crime in SAS Nagar.