Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 7: Two shooters allegedly involved in the killing of a shopkeeper in Punjab’s Ferozepur district were arrested from a hotel in Patnitop area, under the jurisdiction of Kud Police Station in Udhampur district.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the accused were arrested by the Punjab Police’s Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) in a joint operation with the Jammu and Kashmir Police
One .30 bore Beretta pistol along with 10 live cartridges were recovered from possession of the alleged shooters, who were staying in a private hotel at Patnitop absconding after killing Gurcharan Singh Gaba, owner of Gaba General Store at Makhu town on June 1.
Those arrested, have been identified as Vishnu Kumar, a resident of Bharatpur in Rajasthan; and Rahul Mahawar from Kota. Preliminary investigation revealed that accused Vishnu has a criminal background involving extortion, robbery, dacoity, theft, and the Arms Act violations, and was carrying a reward of Rs 10,000 declared by the Rajasthan Police.
Police sources told the Excelsior that acting on intelligence inputs, Punjab Police’s Anti-Gangster Task Force approached J&K Police following which a joint operation was launched early in the Saturday morning, during which both the accused were arrested.
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Under the supervision of DIG Udhampur-Reasi Range, Shiv Kumar Sharma, SDPO Chenani, Sukhbir Singh and SHO Kud, Dy SP Palak Anand led the local Police team during the successful operation, sources added.
Gurcharan Singh Gaba, owner of Gaba General Store at Makhu town, was shot dead by two unidentified men who arrived at the market on a motorcycle and opened fire at him. He later succumbed to his injuries.
Meanwhile, according to PTI, Additional Director General of Punjab Police (ADGP) AGTF Promod Ban said that following the murder of Gaba, a special operation code named ‘Hill Trap’ was launched by the AGTF Punjab and extensive raids were conducted in Rajasthan.
Acting upon human-intel developed during these raids, the hideout of the accused was traced to Jammu and Kashmir, he said, while adding that acting swiftly, a joint operation was launched by AGTF Punjab, Ferozepur Police and Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The ADGP claimed that the accused were intercepted at a checkpoint established at the Patnitop-Kud Road near Police Station Kud, and upon being confronted by the police team, the accused allegedly attempted to evade arrest. However, the police teams successfully apprehended both accused and recovered the pistol from their possession, he said.
Ferozepur, Senior Superintendent of Police, Bhupinder Singh Sidhu said that police teams are now focusing on uncovering the larger conspiracy behind the incident, including identifying those who may have planned, financed, or facilitated the attack.
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