New Delhi: The Chandigarh Police has arrested a woman relative of a senior IPS officer from Punjab, identifying her as the mastermind of a realtor’s murder in broad daylight earlier this March.
She was in touch with Lucky Patial, a foreign-based gangster, the police said. Patial allegedly arranged the shooters and logistics for a killing that has brought renewed attention to the union territory’s law and order.
Bike-borne assailants shot realtor Charanpreet Singh (31) dead in a busy Sector 9 market on 18 March this year. Also known as Chini Kubaheri, Singh had stepped out of his gym and was entering his vehicle when gunmen shot him.
Now, the police have accused the sister-in-law of a 1994 Punjab-cadre IPS officer—Amreen Rai from Chandigarh’s upscale Sector 35—of planning the murder. She was arrested Sunday.
A day after Charanpreet Singh’s murder, the Punjab Anti-Gangster Task Force and the Haryana Special Task Force nabbed two men, following a brief exchange of fire. Rajan alias Piyush Pehalwan, a Ferozepur resident, and Pritam Shah, a Nawashahr resident, stand accused of shooting ‘Chini’ dead.
Initially, Punjab Police Chief Gaurav Yadav identified the shooter duo as key associates of Patial, the current leader of the Davinder Bambiha gang. A resident of Chandigarh, Patial operates from the United States through his alleged aides and facilitators, such as realtor Harshpreet Singh Bains. Amreen Rai allegedly approached Bains to establish contact with Patial.
Patial is one of the most notorious gangsters in northern India, with rivalry between the Bambiha gang run by him and the Lawrence Bishnoi gang leading to widespread murders and daylight killings on the streets of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and other parts of the country. After the encounter of the gang leader Davinder Bambiha in 2016, Patial emerged as the leader of the gang and has been running his syndicates from abroad.
Chandigarh Crime Branch SP Manjeet Sheoran said Amreen held a deep-seated grudge against Charanpreet Singh over a real estate dispute. It arose from Singh selling a land parcel at a very high rate while refusing to hand it over to her.
“Driven by a desire to teach him a lesson, Amreen sought the assistance of notorious gangster Lucky Patial to eliminate Charanpreet,” Sheoran said.
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The gangster connect
Sources in the Chandigarh Police said that Amreen Rai—a housewife dependent on her family’s wealth—purchased a 4.5-acre land parcel in 2023 from Charanpreet Singh. However, she later realised, according to her own calculations and information, that the property was valued at far less than the Rs 8 crore she paid for it. Officers pointed out that she was left bitterly miffed when Singh, thereafter, repeatedly delayed the handover of possession. The land so far has been out of her reach.
Having developed a deep-seated grudge over the belief that she was cheated on the valuation, along with the delay in possession, Amreen approached Harshpreet Singh Bains, another realtor in Mohali. Harshpreet was the handler of Lucky Patial. “He was doing many things at the instructions of Lucky Patial,” a police officer told ThePrint, adding that Amreen was aware of his connections, which is why she approached him.
Harshpreet and Amreen established contact in the last 1.5 to 2 years. Afterwards, “Amreen was introduced to Patial, and she was in touch with him over encrypted applications for several months”, the officer said.
According to the investigation conducted so far, Amreen allegedly offered Patial more than Rs 1 crore to provide hitmen to bump off Charanpreet Singh. She was seeking revenge for ‘Chini’ cheating and frustrating her, giving her no possession for years, despite the payments.
The UT Police made the astounding breakthrough, days after arresting Harshpreet Singh Bains with an imported .45 bore pistol and two live cartridges. The police had stopped him at a checkpoint.
“Verification revealed that the weapon in Harshpreet’s possession was registered in the name of Amreen,” Sheoran said in a statement Monday.
“Following the agreement, Lucky Patial managed the logistics, providing the shooters—Rajan alias Piyush Pehlwan and Pritam—with weapons, a motorcycle, and funds through various modules,” he further said. “On 18 March, the duo carried out the fatal shooting of Charanpreet Singh, as directed.”
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)