Chandigarh, May 26 (PTI) Four operatives of Kishan gang have been arrested in connection with the murder of an Akali councillor in Amritsar, a top Punjab Police officer said on Monday.
One of the accused of this foreign-based gang sustained a bullet injury in retaliatory action after he allegedly opened fire at a police team, the officer said.
Harjinder Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal councillor of Ward No. 2 under the Jandiala Assembly constituency, was shot dead on Sunday.
The arrested have been identified as Jobanjit Singh alias Joban (22), a resident of village Nangal Guru in Amritsar; Amit (19), a resident of Ghode Shah in Jandiala; Gurpreet Singh alias Don (18), a resident of Nawankot in Amritsar; and Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi (22), a resident of Mohalla Shekhupura in Jandiala Guru, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav.
Police teams also recovered one 9MM Glock pistol and impounded a scooter and a motorcycle, which were used in the crime.
Yadav said within eight hours, Amritsar Commissionerate Police arrested four gang operatives, leading to the swift resolution of the murder case of Harjinder Singh alias Bahman (Municipal Councillor, Jandiala Guru).
Terming this operation as a crucial step in the ongoing crackdown on inter-gang rivalry and organised crime, the DGP said that investigations are underway to identify additional associates and map backward and forward linkages of the gang.
Sharing operation details, Amritsar Commissioner of Police (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the police teams have arrested Jobanjit from village Dhunda in Tarn Taran, Gurpreet alias Don and Amit from a hotel near Mahna Singh road in Amritsar following technical and intelligence leads.
During a chase near Fatahpur, accused Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi opened fire at the police team, he said, adding that in self-defence, the station house officer Chheharta retaliated with his service weapon, injuring Gopi in the right leg.
The accused was immediately shifted to Civil Hospital, Amritsar, for medical care and is currently under treatment, he added.
Bhullar said that accused Gurpreet Gopi has a criminal background with cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act have been registered against him.
Three to four persons tried to intercept the councillor, who was on a bike, before firing bullets at him, police on Sunday said.
Singh was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to injuries.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia condemned the Amritsar Police for trying to pass off the murder of SAD councilor Harjinder Singh as a case of gang rivalry, alleging that the actual fact was that the murderers were involved in spurious liquor and drug trafficking with the active support of the local police.
Majithia also ridiculed the police for "trumpeting" that it had solved the murder case in eight hours.
"Where was the police when Harjinder was attacked on February 19? The same persons fired at his residence for seven minutes, but the police did nothing. Even Harjinder's pleas to the SHO proved futile with the SHO asserting that he could not do anything in the matter due to pressure from the AAP legislator," claimed Majithia in Amritsar.