Gopi Lahoria gang member injured in cross firing at Bagga Kalan village

The police here have arrested a gangster, Suraj of EWS Colony, Ludhiana, an accomplice of wanted gangster Gopi Lahoria, after exchange of fire at Bagga Kalan village near Ladhowal in Ludhiana on Saturday. Suraj suffered a bullet injury in the cross-firing. A police personnel had a narrow escape as a bullet scraped past his turban.

The encounter started when a police party of Ludhiana had gone for the recovery of a weapon related to a case involving a gang member firing at a house in Tibba. Multiple rounds were fired from both sides. An illegal weapon and several rounds were recovered from Suraj.

Davinderpal Singh Gopi Lahoria, a notorious gangster from Moga, has been running a big gang in the state. Lahoria had fled India three years ago and was currently running his gang from abroad. He has about seven cases registered against him, including those of extortion, arms smuggling and drug trafficking. Lahoria’s modus operandi involves using addicts to carry out his crimes, including firing at shops and businesses that refuse to pay him extortion money. Recently, he was involved in a firing incident at Sindhi Bakery in Ludhiana’s Rajguru Nagar and another at a trader’s shop in Moga’s Sheikh Wala Chowk.

Police Commissioner Swapan Sharma said that the accused was caught by the police from Dehradun, along with four of his accomplices. Some illegal pistols were seized from Suraj and his accomplices. Today, the police brought Suraj and one of his accomplices to Bagga Kalan for recovery of the pistol. The criminal had already buried the loaded weapon in a pit. As soon as Suraj found the weapon, he took it out from the pit and opened fire at the police personnel. He fired two shots, one narrowly missed cop Ekjot and scraped past his turban, while another bullet completely missed the cops. When he tried to fire the third shot, the pistol got stuck, and the police managed to shot the miscreant in his leg. A total of five-seven shots were fired.

The Commissioner added that so far five members of this gang had been arrested, while four-five were still absconding. These gangsters are reportedly bringing weapons from Madhya Pradesh.

Meanwhile, ADCP Crime Amandeep Singh Brar said Suraj, along with four of his accomplices, were arrested in a case of firing at the house of Tony Chauhan in Swatantar Nagar, Tibba, on April 23. He had an old enmity with Tony.

On November 26, last year, Suraj had attacked a police officer with a sharp-edged weapon. He had attacked some youths at a birthday party on Tibba Road and when a police personnel of the PCR squad arrived at the spot, he attacked him also.

Second police encounter in two days

On May 1, a key member of the notorious Landa gang was arrested following an encounter at Sahibana village on Thursday. The exchange of fire began when the gang member opened fire at a police party that had surrounded him.

The encounter continued for approximately 40 minutes. The accused was critically injured in the cross-firing before being apprehended. The accused was wanted in connection with a firing incident, a case for which was registered on April 20.

Ludhiana