Member of Dilpreet-Rinda gang nabbed in Rupnagar

Punjab Police on Saturday arrested a member of the Dilpreet-Rinda gang allegedly involved in the attack on Punjabi singer Parmish Verma.

This is Punjab Police's second arrest in about a month since Dilpreet, who had allegedly threatened the singer on Facebook, was nabbed in Chandigarh.

Wanted by the police of three states, Akash, a 21-year-old sharpshooter, was nabbed after a nine-km chase that ended in an exchange of fire in Sighpura area of Rupnagar district in Punjab.

A foreign-made mouser and bullets were recovered from his possession, said an official spokesman here.

A resident of Nanded Sahib, Maharashtra, he was wanted in five cases of murder and 13 cases of dacoity, robbery and the Arms Act, by the police of Maharashtra, Haryana and Punjab.

In the world of organised crime since the age of 17, Akash had been in Punjab for the past few months.

Rupnagar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Swapan Sharma said no policeman was injured in the cross-firing, that took place when the gangster's vehicle got stuck near a drain in Singhpura.

The gangster sustained a bullet injury on his left shoulder in the operation that was led by the DSP of the Rupnagar Police.

Akash was a constant companion of Dilpreet and was his accomplice in the daring attack on the Punjabi singer in Mohali, along with many other criminal activities in different parts of the country. Akash, who had been rallying the gang members to free Dilpreet Singh Dahal from police custody during court hearings, had snatched a vehicle from Anandpur Sahib at gunpoint on Friday.

District police was on red alert, keeping tabs at all vantage points and escape routes, and gave a hot chase to Akash, said Sharma.

According to Sharma, Dilpreet's gang members had done a complete recce in the districts in which cases against him had been registered. "Criminal activity and the consequent scare created by gangsters, who had allegedly developed deep roots during the Akali regime from 2007-2017, have been dealt a strong blow during the present government," the spokesman said.

"In the first 15 months of Amarinder Singh's government, 922 members/persons of various criminal gangs have been arrested and seven, including Vicky Gounder, Prema Loharia, Savinder Parbjot and Manna, have been neutralized," the spokesman added.