Nabha Jailbreak: KLF Chief Mintoo Nabbed; Arms Recovered
The four men have been identified as Gurpreet Singh,Vicky Gondra,Nitin Deol, Vikramjeet Singh Vicky
- Two jail officials and a sweet shop owner arrested for conspiring with the escapees.
- Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo arrested by police in New Delhi.
- Mintoo was among the six inmates who escaped from Nabha jail in Punjab on Sunday.
- The alleged mastermind of the jailbreak, Parminder Singh alias Pinda, was arrested on Sunday and a huge cache of arms was recovered from his car in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh.
- A woman was killed when police opened fire at a vehicle which jumped a security barricade.
- The superintendent and the deputy superintendent of the jail were dismissed after the incident.
- The accused arranged the police uniforms a day before the jailbreak.
Police Uniforms Arranged A Day Before Jailbreak
Details have emerged that the police uniforms in which the armed men stormed the Nabha jail were arranged a day before the sensational jailbreak.
During the interrogation of Palwinder Singh Pinda, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh, it was revealed that all the accused involved in the jailbreak had assembled fire arms, and arranged police uniforms a day before the incident in the house of one Gurpreet Singh, resident of Moga, police said on Wednesday.
3 People Arrested on Charges of Criminal Conspiracy
The police on Tuesday arrested three people on the charges of abetment and committing criminal conspiracy with the escapees and for facilitating the jailbreak.
The arrested were identified as the assistant superintendent of the jail, Bhim Singh, the head warden, Jagmeet, and the owner of Shagun sweets, Tejinder Sharma.
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Monday evening said that 11 teams have been deployed to arrest the rest of the escapees.
Two People Arrested in Dehradun
Two people were arrested in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, in connection with the Punjab jailbreak.
SSB Dehradun said that the police had information of that some people from Dehradun had helped in the jailbreak. They searched a house in this connection and recovered 10 rounds, mobile phones, rods, fake Aadhaar cards and driving license.
Parminder Singh Sent to 14-Day Judicial Remand
Parminder Singh, who was arrested in connection with the Punjab jailbreak on Sunday, was sent to a 14-day judicial remand on Monday.
Mintoo Planned to Travel to Goa and Flee the Country: Police
The Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) leader was nabbed from the Nizamuddin railway station by the Special Cell of Delhi Police – Special Commissioner of Police Arvind Deep told IANS.
"He was arrested between 1 and 2 am," Deep said. "He had reached Delhi by changing a number of buses and was headed from Nizamuddin to Panvel (in Maharashtra)."
His plan was to then travel to Goa and from there flee the country, said a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity.
According to the officer, Mintoo, after his escape, entered Haryana, where he took a bus from Kurukshetra to Panipat and then boarded another bus to reach Delhi.
A pistol and six cartridges were recovered from Mintoo. He was also carrying some money with him.
The arrest happened within 24 hours after Mintoo, another terrorist and four gangsters broke out of Nabha Jail in Punjab.
He was later taken to Patiala House Court.
Home Ministry Doing All It Can: Rajnath
Speaking to mediapersons about the jailbreak, Union Minister Rajnath Singh said that the Home Ministry is doing whatever it can.
Mintoo Arrested by Police, 5 Others Still Absconding
Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo was nabbed by police in New Delhi on Monday morning. Mintoo was among the six inmates who escaped from the Nabha jail in Punjab on Sunday.
The jailbreak took place after ten armed men in police uniform tricked the sentries into opening the gates and bolted out with the inmates, firing a hail of bullets. However, eyewitnesses claim the number of attackers to be as high as 20. Among the escapees was another terrorist Kashmeer Singh, according to Punjab police chief Suresh Arora.
Parminder Singh, Alleged Jailbreak ‘Mastermind’ Arrested
Only hours after the inmates fled from the prison, the alleged ‘mastermind’ of the jailbreak, Parminder Singh alias Pinda, was arrested from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district when the getaway vehicle - a Toyota Fortuner - was stopped at a police picket. A huge cache of arms was recovered from Singh.
Commenting on the arrest, the Meerut range IG said:
Anand further added:
Mintoo’s Escape Was Not Part of the Plan
The jailbreak was carried out by the ten men to free four of their gang members. However, Harminder Singh Mintoo and Kashmir Singh decided to flee with the four inmates when they found out about the plan, according to a report by The Indian Express. This information was disclosed by Palwinder Singh after his capture on Sunday.
The report further added:
KLF Chief’s ISI Connect?
Harminder Singh Mintoo was deported from Thailand in November 2014 along with his aide Gurpreet Singh 'Gopi'.
The then Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini had then claimed that Pakistan's spy agency ISI was “making concerted efforts” to use terror outfits like KLF and Babbar Khalsa to revive terrorism in Punjab, with focus on carrying out killings of prominent leaders belonging to a particular community.
Mintoo was also part of another terror outfit, Babbar Khalsa International, during his stay in Pakistan. In 2010, he visited Europe and again in 2013, embarked on an extensive tour of Europe lasting 11 months to establish contacts.
In South East Asia, the KLF chief had travelled to Laos, Cambodia, Burma, besides Thailand where he had established a base, police had said.
He was arrested by Punjab Police from Delhi's IGI Airport in 2014. He was arrested in connection with 10 cases including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station in 2010.
Woman Killed as Cops Fire at Vehicle Jumping Barricade Post Jailbreak
A 25-year-old woman, Neha Sharma, was shot dead when police opened fire at a vehicle which jumped a security barricade. An FIR was registered against an unknown person after Sharma succumbed to her injuries post the police firing in Samana.
Sharma was killed when police opened fire at a vehicle which jumped a security barricade on the Patiala-Gulha Cheeka road hours after five prisoners including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo fled from the high-security Nabha Jail in the district.
A police officer said the vehicle did not stop at the barricade and the driver tried to evade policemen, prompting them to open fire.
The woman received bullet injury and died soon after.
It was not immediately clear whether the woman was travelling in the vehicle that jumped the barricade.
The Escaped Prisoners
Apart from Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, five other prisoners escaped the Nabha central jail.
The five others were identified as Kashmeer Singh, Amandeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, Vicky Gondar and Neeta Deol.
Gurpreet Singh Sekhon
Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, the 27-year-old resident of Ferozepur, faces 13 cases of murder and attempt to murder. He was allegedly involved in the killing of gangster Sukha Kahlwan and was arrested in March 2015 for his connection in another murder case in Faridkot. Before getting involved in criminal activities, he had completed a course in flight stewardship.
Vicky Gondar
Hailing from Muktsar district's Lambi constituency is 27-year-old Vicky Gondar or Harjinder Singh Bhullar. He, too, is one of the accused in Sukha Kahlwan's murder and was arrested in Tarn Taran in December last year. Muktsar SSP told Indian Express that “there are around six cases of murder and highway robbery against Vicky”.
As a young boy, he won medals in discus throw at the national level.
Neeta Deol
Neeta Deol, another accused in Kahlwan murder, comes from an affluent family which runs a transport business. He was based in Dubai and was contacted by Vicky Gondar before Kahlwan’s muder. Deol was nabbed from the Amritsar airport in 2015. He faces six cases of murder and attempt to murder.
Deol’s Facebook page was updated on Sunday at around 1 pm by his brother, though this information could not be verified. The post says that there was “no reason for the boys to escape” and that the incident was similar to the “Bhopal encounter”. It also hinted at a possible “political stunt”.
Kashmeer Singh had been arrested in Gurdaspur in April 2015 following his attack on Shiv Sena's Punjab unit leader Harvinder Soni. The other three accused had been let off on bail but not Kashmeer Singh "due to the serious nature of charged against him," informed Gurdaspur SSP Jasdeep Singh. His next court appearance was in December.
Another Car With Punjab Number Plate Found
A Hyundai Verna car with Punjab number plate was found in Sonu Majra village in Kaithal, Haryana. The vehicle is suspected to be in connection with Punjab jailbreak, IG Karnal said.
On Sunday, high alert was sounded in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to find the absconding men.
The ADG UP said that the police had information of the people trying to go towards Nepal.
Centre Seeks Report From Government
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal about the Nabha jailbreak in which a hardcore Khalistani terrorist escaped along with five other prisoners and sought a detailed report from the state government.
The Home Minister, who was in Hyderabad, also asked the Chief Minister to take urgent steps to tighten security in all jails in Punjab.
Capt Amarinder Singh Takes Aim At Badal Govt
Congress' Punjab President, Captain Amarinder Singh accused the ruling Badal government of being behind the Nabha jailbreak. Speaking to the media he said the jailbreak is the result of breakdown of law and order situation in the state.
He also added that such incidents add to fears of revival of terrorism in the state ahead of the upcoming polls, and are part of the Akali government’s attempts to demoralise the police.
Jail Superintendent and Deputy Dismissed: Punjab Deputy CM
The superintendent and the deputy superintendent of the jail were dismissed after the Punjab jailbreak, Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said.
He said that a special task force under the intelligence department will be set up to track the criminals.
He also added that the Deputy General of Police of the jail was suspended.
Punjab DGP, Deputy CM Hold Emergency Meet
Punjab DGP and Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal met after jail Break incident. Speaking to the media the Punjab DGP revealed that six inmates fled from the jail.
Home ministry has also seeked report from Punjab Government over the jail break.
Punjab government also announced Rs 25 lakh reward to any person providing information leading to arrest of escaped prisoners.
(With inputs from agencies and The Indian Express.)
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