Punjab Police on Tuesday claimed to have solved the murder of a Hindu leader in October last year with the arrest of alleged gangster Saraj Singh Sandhu.
Vipin Kumar Sharma, the district president of Hindu Sangharsh Sena in Amritsar, was shot dead in Amritsar by two men.
A joint team comprising the Organised Crime Control Unit arrested gangster Sandhu from Jalandhar, Additional Inspector General H.K.P.S. Khakh told reporters.
Sandhu, alias Mintoo, had purportedly ‘confessed’ to killing Sharma. “I killed Vipan Sharma. He got punished for his deeds as he conspired to the murder of the father of my close friend,” reads a post on Facebook.
A joint team of Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) of Punjab Police and Jalandhar (Rural) Police arrested gangster Saraj Singh Sandhu from Bidhipur railway crossing, close to Jalandhar-Amritsar road (NH-1) in the early hours of Tuesday, Additional Inspector General, OCCU, Jalandhar, HKPS Khakh told the press at a briefing.
Sandhu — who is suspected of having committed several crimes, including murder, dacoity and extortion and carries a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head — claimed Sharma’s murder in a Facebook post.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh congratulated the police on Sandhu’s arrest.
Congrats @PunjabPolice for nabbing gangster Saraj Singh Sandhu, wanted for murder of Hindu leader Vipan Sharma & other heinous crimes. Great job by AIG OCCU Harkamal Khakh, DSP RK Yadav, SIs Pritpal & Sukhjit, ASI Sukhwinder. Kudos to DGP Suresh Arora, DGP Intel Dinkar Gupta.
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) March 6, 2018
Khakh claimed Sandhu was part of the gang that attacked a police team that was bringing a criminal, Shubham Singh, to a court in Amritsar to help the latter escape.
Police claimed Sharma’s murder was aimed at avenging the suspected murder of Singh’s father Baljinder Singh alias Kalu, a suspended police constable. Singh suspected Sharma of helping his father’s killer and plotted his murder, Khakh said.
Police will now seek production warrants for Jaggu Bhagwan Purian and Bobby Malhotra, both of whom Sandhu had named in drug dealing, to bring them for questioning. They are currently at Hoshiarpur and Amritsar jails, respectively.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh congratulated Punjab Police on Sandhu’s arrest.
“Congrats @PunjabPolice for nabbing gangster Saraj Singh Sandhu, wanted for murder of Hindu leader Vipan Sharma & other heinous crimes. Great job by AIG OCCU Harkamal Khakh, DSP RK Yadav, SIs Pritpal & Sukhjit, ASI Sukhwinder. Kudos to DGP Suresh Arora, DGP Intel Dinkar Gupta,” his tweet read.
Sharma’s murder came within a fortnight of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Ravinder Gosain’s killing in Ludhiana. Several religious leaders have been killed in the state since 2016, raising questions about the prevailing law and order situation in the state.
