Gangster facing 26 cases among 2 held for murderous attack on trader

The Ludhiana police claimed to have arrested a gangster, Rishab Benipal, alias Nannu, along with another person in a murderous attack on a shoe trader, Gurvinder Singh, alias Prinkle. Both suspects had also suffered bullet injuries as the trader had also fired shots in self-defence.

Notably, on Friday armed the assailants barged into the shop where they shot at Prinkle and his business partner Navjit Kaur. Seven bullets were fired at Prinkle of which two hit near his chest. Navjit Kaur suffered two bullet injuries. Rishab also suffered three bullet injuries, including two in the stomach, while Sushil, the other suspect, suffered three bullet injuries.

After committing the crime, the suspects took away a Honda Activa scooter from a person near the incident site and fled the scene.

Rishab Benipal, is a resident of Jattan Wali Gali, Dharampura, and Sushil Kumar is a resident of Kabir Nagar. Rishab had a criminal background as he is facing 26 criminal cases, including heinous ones, registered against him in various districts of the state. In July last year, he came out on bail from Patiala jail. He had also committed a major crime near the Jalandhar bypass when he snatched a huge amount of cash from some gambler. Even Sushil is facing three criminal cases, including of Arms Act, registered against him in the past.

The other suspects who are at large in the case were identified as Mukul Sharma, alias Paras, Sahil Sapra of Khud Mohalla, Akash of the Tibba road area and Jaat of Reru Sahib. Honey Sethi, a shoe trader, was also booked by the police in the case but the police said he would be arrested after verifying his role in the incident.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Investigation, Shubham Aggarwal, said after the firing incident at Khud mohalla, police teams were formed and all entry-exit points of city were sealed. During checking, both suspects were arrested within seven hours of the incident from near Durga Mata temple. The two suspects had also suffered bullet injuries due to which they were admitted to a hospital for treatment after arrest.

Aggarwal said when the police team reached the scene, one .32 bore weapon left by assailants, five live cartridges and 17 empty cartridges were recovered. Both suspects were undergoing treatment at the DMCH while the victims, Prinkle and Navjit Kaur were undergoing treatment at Fortis Hospital. Doctors had operated Rishab while operation of Sushil was pending.

Meanwhile, police teams were formed to conduct raids at the suspected whereabouts of the suspects.