Pakistan-linked ‘most wanted’ gangster Baljinder alias Billa was nabbed from Sultanpur Lodhi in Punjab on Friday.
Billa, who is alleged to have links with the slain Pakistan-based Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harmeet Singh Happy and Germany-based Bagga of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) was arrested along with six of his accomplices in a joint operation conducted by Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) of Chandigarh, Jalandhar wing of Counter-Intelligence and Kapurthala police.
Billa carried with him a huge cache of sophisticated illegal weapons.
DGP Dinkar Gupta said this is the biggest victory for state police against cross border arms smuggling and terror funding. “This is our biggest haul of highly sophisticated weapons from a local criminal gang. The preliminary investigations so far have revealed use of drones to smuggle arms and even drug money from Pakistan to India. OCCU had received a tip-off about Billa and his associates hiding in Kapurthala with arms. A joint operation was planned, and police teams laid siege around the Dadwindi and Mothanwala area of Sultanpur Lodhi and nabbed the accused. Billa has so far confessed to being in contact with Pakistan-based top drug smugglers and having received many consignments of drugs and weapons in Ferozpur area,” Dinkar Gupta told THE WEEK.
According to police, they recovered two 30 bore drum machine guns, SIG Sauer pistols that are in fact being used by members of the US Secret Service, two Austrian Glock pistols, two 30 bore pistols, one 32 bore pistol, one rifle, 341 live cartridges, 14 pistol magazines and around Rs 3 lakh, and 100 Australian dollars.
A case under relevant sections of the IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Arms Act have been registered against the arrested.
A senior investigation official told THE WEEK that Billa has also confessed to getting a consignment of AK-74 rifles in September 2019, smuggled into India through Mandot area of Ferozpur sector. Billa also revealed that he was in touch with Mirza, who allegedly works as a courier on Indo-Pak border for operatives of Khalistan Liberation Force. Besides, he was in touch with gangster Gurpreet Sekhon, currently lodged in Patiala Jail.
All the arrested accused have been kept separately in prison as they are being tested for COVID-19 by a special team of doctors.
It may be noted that Punjab Police had, on Thursday, arrested two associates of slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Riyaz Naikoo from Amritsar.
