2 minors among 3 shooters nabbed for Dera follower's killing

Three suspected shooters were nabbed in Punjab's Patiala district early on Friday in connection with the killing of a Dera Sacha Sauda follower a day ago, the police said.

The special cell of the Delhi police raided the Bakshiwala area, about 30 km from Patiala city, around 3 am following intelligence inputs, it said.

One of the suspects, Jitender, has been arrested, while two others are minors, Delhi police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said.

Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh, an accused in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, was shot dead in his shop at Kotkapura in Faridkot, Punjab on Thursday.

Despite Punjab police protection, he was killed by a barrage of fire opened by the assailants, the Delhi police said.

While Pardeep Singh died on the spot, his Punjab Police gunman and another shopkeeper sustained bullet injuries in the incident.

Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar claimed responsibility for the killing in a purported social media post. Brar is the main accused in the murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, who was shot dead in May.

Pardeep was cremated Friday evening in Faridkot. Earlier, senior police officials met his family and Dera state committee members and assured them of expediting the investigation in the case.

Earlier, his body was kept at a congregation centre in Kotkapura where a large number of Dera followers were present amid tight security.

Pardeep Singh was out on bail in a case of theft of a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib from Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot in June 2015. He was also an accused in a sacrilege case of that year.

The victim's daughter, while speaking to reporters in Faridkot, claimed her father was innocent and demanded justice for the family.

A Dera state committee member demanded those guilty of killing Pardeep be given exemplary punishment.

Punjab additional director general of police (law and order) Arpit Shukla told PTI that all the six shooters involved in the murder have been identified.

Four shooters are from Haryana and two from Punjab. Efforts are on to arrest the remaining three shooters, the police officer said.

It was not the first time that the Delhi Police took lead over the Punjab Police in a case registered in the state. Earlier, the Delhi police had succeeded in arresting three shooters -- Priyavrat Fauji, Kashish and Ankit Sirsa -- in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case.

The special cell of the Delhi police again scored over the Punjab Police when it nabbed gangster Deepak Tinu, one of the accused in the Moosewala murder case from Rajasthan last month.

Tinu had escaped the Mansa police custody, in a major embarrassment for the Punjab police.

In March this year, the Delhi Police arrested three persons involved in the August 2021 murder of Akali youth leader Vicky Middukhera.

According to the Delhi police, the counter intelligence unit (CIU) of the special cell had worked out the murder of one Pramod Bajad which took place on January 27 in the Alipur area.

The CIU was aware that the double-murder in Ambala on January 20 was carried out by one Amit Badhwar and Aakash Bhalambhiya (both arrested by CIU) along with two other hitmen sent by Kala Rana alias Tiger.

The two absconding assailants of the Ambala double murder were identified as Jitender and Shera, who was arrested by the Haryana police. Since then, the CIU was on the lookout for Jitender, the police said.

When the CCTV footage of the Dera Sacha Sauda follower's killing in Kotkapura went viral on social media, the CIU identified one of the assailants as Jitender, who has been on the run for long, they said.

Following the investigation, the police apprehended the accused from Bakshiwala in Punjab's Patiala where they had taken shelter at a hideout arranged by Brar, Delhi's Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Manishi Chandra said.

Preliminary interrogation revealed there were six assailants -- four from Haryana and two from Punjab. They were being handled independently by Brar, an associate of fugitive Harvinder Singh alias Rinda and jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, Chandra said.

Around 55 bullets were fired out of which around 30 were fired by the trio who have been nabbed. Three sophisticated pistols and several live ammunition rounds have been recovered, the police said.

It has also been learnt that Jitender is an old associate of Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Kala Jathedi. The two juveniles were connected to Brar by Ankit Sirsa, an accused in the killing of Sidhu Moosewala. Sirsa was earlier arrested, they added.

His killing comes days after the November 4 murder of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri in Amritsar. Both the victims had police protection.