PUNJAB POLICE COMMITTED TO MAKING PUNJAB A SAFE AND SECURE STATE, ARRESTED ACCUSED PERSONS WERE WORKING ON DIRECTIONS OF USA-BASED HANDLERS DONI BAL AND PRABH DASUWAL, SAYS DGP GAURAV YADAV,  PROBE REVEALS MANNU GHANSHAMPURIA AND DONI BAL ARRANGED WEAPON CONSIGNMENT, PLANNING TO COMMIT HEINOUS CRIMES: DGP PUNJAB, TWO DREADED GANGSTERS OF KAUSHAL-BAMBIHA GANG AFTER BRIEF ENCOUNTER IN JALANDHAR   

Face2News/Chandigarh/Amritsar/Jalandhar

In a major blow to illegal arms smuggling networks, Counter Intelligence (CI) Amritsar apprehended two operatives of Portugal-based gangster Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Ghanshampuria, further uncovering their links to major USA-based criminals Balwinder Singh alias Doni Bal and Prabhdeep Singh alias Prabh Dasuwal, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Friday. 

Those arrested have been identified as Aditya Kapoor alias Makhan, a resident of Lahori Gate in Amritsar and Ravinder Singh, a resident of village Akarpura in Gurdaspur. Police teams have also recovered four weapons including one sophisticated 9MM Glock pistol, two foreign-made .30 bore pistols and one .32 bore pistol along with five magazines and 14 live cartridges from their possession. 

The DGP said that these crime syndicates are rivals of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria organised crime syndicate. Probe has also found that the arrested persons have received the weapon consignment arranged by Doni Bal and Mannu Ghanshampuria and were hatching a conspiracy to commit some heinous crimes in the state on their directions, he said. 

He said that preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested accused Aditya Kapoor is having 12 criminal cases registered against him and was operating on the directions of USA-based criminals Doni Bal and Prabh Dasuwal. The latter are close associates of Gangster Mannu Ghanshampuria, who is brother of Gangster Gopi Ghanshampuria, he said. 

The DGP said that these crime syndicates are rivals of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria organised crime syndicate. Probe has also found that the arrested persons have received the weapon consignment arranged by Doni Bal and Mannu Ghanshampuria and were hatching a conspiracy to commit some heinous crimes in the state on their directions, he said. 

He said that further investigations are underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case. 

In this regard, an FIR has been registered under relevant sections of the Arms Act at Police Station State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Amritsar.

TWO DREADED GANGSTERS OF KAUSHAL-BAMBIHA GANG AFTER BRIEF ENCOUNTER IN JALANDHAR   

In a major action by the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police amidst the ongoing fight against organised crime, two dreaded gangsters of Kaushal-Bambiha gang sustained critical injuries while unsuccessfully attempting to escape from the police custody at the outskirts of Jalandhar Cantonment and recovered two pistols along with five live cartridges from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday. 

Both the gangsters identified as Rajeshwar Kumar and Deepak Vaid alias Babu were arrested by the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police on Tuesday, after their name cropped up during follow-up investigations in the Arms Act case regitered at Police Station Bhargo Camp on October 17, 2024. As per the information, Police teams had arrested four members of this Kaushal-Bambiha module and recovered four weapons from their possession. With the arrest of these two gangsters, the total arrests in this case reaches six.  

“Police officers have displayed remarkable endurance by chasing and arresting gangsters Rajeshwar Kumar and Deepak Vaid on foot for at least 1.5 kilometers,” said the DGP. 

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that both the accused persons were involved in multiple heinous crimes and were also conspiring major crimes in districts including Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar, Kapurthala and other districts. The accused persons were also providing logistical assistance to other gang members and supplying weapons to different gangs in Punjab and Haryana, he said. 

The DGP said that further investigation are on to establish backward and forward linkages in this case. 

Sharing more details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Jalandhar Swapan Sharma said that following disclosures of accused gangsters Rajeshwar Kumar and Deepak Vaid, Police teams from the Jalandhar Commissionerate were taking both the accused persons to the secluded place at the outskirts of the Jalandhar Contonment, where they claimed to have concealed arms and ammunition.

Upon reaching the location, both the accused persons managed to run from the spot by opening fire at the police party using the pistol retrieved from the spot, he said, while adding that, acting promptly, police teams opened retaliatory fire to stop them and managed to apprehend them after giving them a 1.5 kilometres foot chase. During the operation, one of the accused persons sustained bullet injury on his right leg, while other one sustained injuries during manhandling with the police teams.

The CP said that both the accused persons have criminal history with several criminal cases pertaining to Arms Act, NDPS Act, attempt to murder, etc registered against them. With recovery of two more pistols from the spot, a total of six weapons have been recovered from this module so far, he said, while adding that more arrests and recoveries are expected in coming days.