Bhullar gang shooter injured in Patiala encounter | Chandigarh News
Patiala: The police have injured a key shooter of the Jaipal Bhullar gang during an encounter on the southern bypass of the city late on Tuesday night, under Operation Prahar. The injured gangster was identified as Harjinder Singh alias Laddi (31), a resident of village Chhat in Zirakpur, Mohali district. Police said he had a long criminal history and was allegedly involved in several serious offences across Punjab and Haryana.
According to police officials, acting on specific intelligence inputs, teams from CIA Patiala, CIA Samana, Special Cell Rajpura and local police conducted a coordinated naka-bandi near village Ghalori. When Laddi approached the naka on a motorcycle from the Patiala Bus Stand side, he was asked to stop, but he abandoned the motorcycle and opened fire at the police party. Police said the accused opened three rounds of fire, following which police retaliated in self-defence. During the exchange, the accused sustained a bullet injury in his right leg and was shifted to Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, where he was undergoing treatment. Police recovered one .32 bore Beretta pistol, three empty cartridges and two live rounds from the encounter site.DIG Patiala range Kuldeep Singh Chahal said the operation was carried out as per the directions of the DGP Punjab to dismantle gangster networks operating in the state. SSP Patiala Varun Sharma stated that the accused was planning to execute a major crime and his arrest averted a serious incident.Police has registered an FIR under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Arms Act at Police Station Sadar Patiala. Investigations revealed that Harjinder Singh alias Laddi was wanted in at least 10 criminal cases, including attempt to murder, extortion, robbery and violations of the Arms and Prison Acts. He was also allegedly involved in the 2017 cash van robbery near Chitkara University on the Patiala–Chandigarh highway, in which crores of rupees were looted.Police said that after recovery, the accused would be formally arrested and subjected to sustained interrogation to identify other gang members and uncover further criminal conspiracies. The police said that the accused was booked in several cases in the past and was wanted in some cases.
