Gangster-turned-terrorist Dalla mastermind behind murder: Punjab DGP

Chandigarh: In a significant breakthrough, Punjab Police solved the murder case of Gurpreet Singh, also known as Bhodi, with the arrest of three members of gangster-turned-terrorist Arshdeep Singh, alias Arsh Dalla, who emerged as the mastermind, said Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav here on Friday.

The DGP, accompanying Inspector General of Police (IGP-Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill, Deputy Inspector General (DIG-Faridkot Range) Ashwani Kapur and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP-Faridkot) Pragya Jain, said those arrested have been identified as Bilal Ahmed, alias Fauji, Guramardeep Singh, alias Pontu, and Arshdeep Singh, alias Jhandu.

Gurpreet Singh was shot dead on October 9 while returning home on a motorcycle.

DGP Yadav said investigations have revealed the murder of Gurpreet Singh was masterminded from abroad by Arsh Dalla and other people. Different modules have been used for conducting recce and executing the murder, with separate handlers based abroad, he said, adding the criminals have used cut-outs to mask the conspiracy.

“The three arrested people constituted part of the recce module, being handled by Canada-based Karamveer Singh, alias Gora. The recce module passed on crucial information to the shooter module through their handlers and cut-outs,” he said.

The DGP said the members of the shooter module have been identified and police teams are on a manhunt to nab them.

During investigations, evidence has come on record indicating the role of Amritpal Singh of Waris Punjab De in the murder conspiracy. As per statements recorded in the investigation, the murder was carried out at the behest of Amritpal Singh.

DGP Yadav said all angles and theories of crime would be examined threadbare and investigated in accordance with the law. The criminal liability of all people involved in the investigations would be determined in accordance with the evidence available as per law.

Sharing operation details, the DGP said a Special Investigation Team (SIT), comprising police officials from Faridkot district and the State Special Operations Cell, was constituted and separate teams were assigned the tasks of visiting the scene of crime and collecting physical and digital evidence.

He said mobile tower dumps at strategic places were obtained and analysed through big data analysis tools. At the same time, human intelligence was also obtained and developed. A large number of people were questioned. Contact was established with persons based abroad as well to glean intelligence.

During investigations, information relating to a wider conspiracy to target more individuals has also been received and is being probed.