4 linked to Khalistani terror module arrested, police used traditional methods like network of informers and legwork to zero in on suspects.
Chandigarh: In the absence of any digital trace of the crimes they were probing, it was traditional policing that apparently helped Punjab cops solve eight sensational cases, including the murders of Hindu Right-wing leaders.
Four men have been arrested with links to a Khalistani separatist module in connection with the seven murders.
All these incidents were aimed at fanning communal disturbances and to revive Sikh militancy in Punjab, police said.
Khalistani separatist module
The four are allegedly part of a Khalistani separatist module, operating since mid-2015, with handlers in Pakistan, Italy and the UK. The two hitmen are — Ramandeep Singh alias ‘Canadian’ alias ‘Bagga’ (28) and Hardeep Singh alias Shera (24). Ramandeep is a Ludhiana resident and Hardeep used to shuttle between India and Italy.
Ranbir Singh Khatra, DIG counter-intelligence, Patiala, said, “The two received huge sums from various channels abroad. Shera was trained in Italy and worked for Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) while Ramandeep was trained in Dubai and has links with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).”
The other two accused are Taljit Singh alias Jimmy (27), a Jammu resident living in Glasgow, UK and Jagtar Singh Johal alias Jaggi (31) a British national. The latter allegedly served as the link between militants living in Canada, the UK and France and the two hit men.
Police have also arrested, through production warrants, gangster Dharmendra alias Guggni and KLF chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, both lodged in jails.
The killing machine
– In February 2016, Ludhiana Shiv Sena leader Amit Arora survived an attack on him by the two.
– In April, they killed Shiv Sena leader Durga Prasad Gupta in Khanna, followed by RSS leader Brig Jagdish Gagneja (retd), in Jalandhar in August.
– In January this year, they murdered Amit Sharma of Sri Hindu Takht in Ludhiana. A month later, father-son duo, Satpal and Ramesh, both followers of Dera Sacha Sauda, were killed in Khanna.
– In July, Sultan Masih, the pastor of a local church in Ludhiana, was shot dead.
– Their latest victim was Ravinder Gosain, mandal pradhan of the BJP in Ludhiana.
‘Modus operandi’
– While one person arranged the weapon and kept it in a safe place, another collected it. A third person finalised the target and the hit men carried out the murder.
– All communication was through an internet-based message service, like WhatsApp, but could not be traced.
– They used standard 9 mm, .32 and .30 bore pistols.
– Money was transferred through third party transactions.
Traditional policing
With virtually no e-trace of these crimes, traditional policing involving a network of informers, leg work and skills of deduction led the police to bust the module.
The first clue came in the late 2016 when the police registered a case under the Arms Act against Jammu resident Tirlok Singh alias Laadi in Moga. The police said that Laadi had purchased two weapons for his cousin Jimmy. Those were to be buried at a spot from where someone would collect them to carry out a series of killings in Punjab.
“A look-out notice was issued against Jimmy and we got lucky on 1 November when he was arrested from the Delhi airport while entering India,” said Khatra.
Jimmy’s interrogation led the police to Jaggi, also a resident of Glasgow, running a web magazine on the theme of 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Jaggi was in India for his wedding in the first week of October. Police contacted immigration authorities and arrested him from Jalandhar.
According to the police, Jaggi had some idea about the two hit men but did not know their names. “He told us that the tall boy who sits pillion works with Mintoo and the biker works with Gursharan Bir. He, however, said that gangster Guggni sold them the weapons,” said Khatra.
Guggni, who was lodged in jail for a murder, was arrested and he connected the next dot to hitman Ramandeep Singh who was nabbed from his village near Ludhiana.
“Ramandeep had only sketchy information about the other hitman. He said he had a tattoo of a lion’s head and wore a single silver kara in his hand. He was over 6 ft tall and was a regular at gyms and spas,” said Khatra
“We shortlisted all the gyms and spas in the areas where the crimes had taken place. We finally zeroed in on a gym in Fatehgarh Sahib and arrested him there.”
Uproar in the UK and Canada
A social media campaign, #SaveJaggi was launched following his arrest with his lawyer alleging that he was subjected to third-degree torture by the police and arrested wrongly.
Denying such allegations, the police, however, say they have a watertight case against him and that he was in touch with Gursharan Bir Singh of the BKI, in the UK. Police said he admitted to have met Mintoo in 2013.