Firing at shopkeeper: Two shooters nabbed, most-wanted Batala booked

Achieving a major success, the Ludhiana rural police arrested two suspects who had opened fire at a hardware shopkeeper, Jatinder Singh, in Rumi village, Jagraon, on July 5.

The suspects were shooters allegedly hired by Lovepreet Singh Lovely, who is staying in Serbia, reportedly at the behest of a most-wanted gangster, Pavittar Singh Batala, now staying in California.

Batala was recently arrested by the FBI in California. He is a member of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and the Interpol had a red corner notice against him.

Batala is also believed to have made extortion calls to the shopkeeper, demanding Rs 50 lakh and a probe is underway to clear the fact.

The nabbed suspects were identified as Nanak Ram, alias Nanku (24), a resident of Andana village in Sangrur, and Deepu Singh (23), a resident of Gobindpura, Sangrur. The police also recovered one .32 bore pistol, two cartridges and a motorcycle from the suspects, which were provided to them by the conspirators.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Ludhiana rural, Ankur Gupta, said on Friday, both suspects were arrested from Andana village after getting a tip-off. Later, they were brought to the CIA, Jagraon, for interrogation. Nanak Ram told the police that he had concealed an illegal weapon used in the crime at Sohian village. When the police along with him reached the spot at the village, he took out a weapon kept hidden beneath the ground and opened fire at the police officials. One bullet hit the police vehicle while another whizzed past a policeman’s leg. In self-defence, policemen also fired shots and one of the bullets hit the suspect’s leg.

Batala behind attack on trader: Police sources

A senior police official told The Tribune that gangster Batala, who is on the most wanted list of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has been arrested along with seven other Khalistani terrorists by the FBI on July 11, and he is wanted in India for his alleged involvement in terror activities. “We have booked Batala, suspecting his direct involvement in a case related to a firing at a shopkeeper in Jagraon, hiring shooters, arranging weapons and making extortion calls. The gangster seemed to have asked his aide Lovepreet, a native of Sangrur, at present staying in Serbia, to hire shooters to kill the shopkeeper. A sum of Rs 1.50 lakh was also transferred in bank accounts of Nanak Ram by Lovepreet from Serbia. The exact role of Batala and Lovepreet will come out in further questioning of the nabbed suspects,” said a senior police official.

Meanwhile, link of victim’s brother-in-law Rupinder Singh with Batala is also under scanner as the police suspect that the fresh attack on the shopkeeper on July 5 could have been orchestrated by the gangster at the behest of Rupinder.

Ludhiana