Extortion bid: Two criminals brought on production warrant

Tarn Taran police have brought two notorious criminals, Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Nambardar of Naushehra Pannuan and Mohpreet Singh alias Mohi of Thathia Mahanta village, on production warrant from Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur jail, respectively, in connection with an extortion bid in Naushehra Pannuan village that left Sukhwinder Singh Noni, a cousin of the notorious gangster, dead.

Gopi and Mohi were both prime suspects in the Sarhali RPG attack that took place in December 2022. They were facing charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and allegedly had direct links with gangsters based abroad like Lakhbir Singh Landa and Satnam Singh alias Satta Naushehra.

Apart from them, the police also arrested their accomplice Sukhraj Singh who was involved in a firing incident outside Mirchi Caffe and also Lovepreet Singh on charges of harbouring criminal elements.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Tarn Taran, Abhimanyu Rana confirmed the arrest of Gopi Nambardar and Mohpreet after bringing them on production warrants. The duo had threatened Sakatar Singh, a commission agent and a Kheti store owner, for extortion. The deceased Sukhwinder Singh alias Noni along with his two unknown accomplices had come to take extortion money at their behest.

On Sunday (November 24), Noni was gunned down by Sakatar Singh and his brother Gurjant Singh when he along with his two unknown accomplices had arrived to take the extortion money, but they refused leading to heated arguments and firing by the accused. In the firing for self-defence, Noni suffered gunshot injury and died. The police also recovered a country-made pistol from near the crime scene.

In his statement, Sakatar Singh alleged that Gopi Nambardar, Mohpreet and Noni threaten to kill him and harm his family members while demanding extortion money. He said that earlier, they had given the extortion money thrice to them.

SP (D) Ajay Raj Singh said that the police have identified the suspects who had accompanied Noni to the store for extortion and a manhunt was launched to arrest them. Meanwhile, the police have arrested Sukhraj Singh of Chak Mehar village who had fired several gunshots outside Mirchi Caffe in Tarn Taran at the behest of Gopi Nambardar on November 25.

Also, the police have arrested Lovepreet Singh, who used to provide shelter to the criminals after they committed some crime. The police suspected that he had provided shelter to the accomplices of Noni after the shooting in Naushehra Pannuan, said SP (D) Ajay Raj Singh while adding that further probe was on in the case.