Goindwal incident: Day after bloody clash, high alert sounded in Punjab jails

PK Jaiswar

Amritsar, February 27

A day after the fatal clash in Goindwal Central Jail in Tarn Taran, SSP Gurmeet Singh Chohan, along with senior police officials, visited the spot and got members of two gangs — Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria — segregated. They were shifted in separate barracks to avoid any untoward incident. Earlier, they used to be lodged in same barracks.

An alert has been sounded in Punjab jails, suspecting bloody gang war in the aftermath of Sunday’s incident at the Goindwal jail.

The Tarn Taran police have booked Rajinder Jokar, Malkeet, Arshad Khan, Manpreet Bhau, Sachin Bhiwani, Kashish and Ankit Sirsa for murder and an attempt to murder, besides other relevant sections of the IPC and the Prisons Act.

Around 25 members of both gangs, who were involved in the killing of Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh alias Sidhu Moosewala, were lodged in a high-security zone in the jail. However, differences cropped up among the members of the two gangs, which led to the bloody clash inside the jail complex.

Mandeep Singh Toofan and Manmohan Singh alias Mohna, both accomplices of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang, were killed while their accomplice Keshav was injured in the clash. Three members of Bishnoi gang were also injured. Keshav and Mandeep Bhau were referred to the PGI. Keshav’s condition is stated to the serious due to critical head injuries.

“A close watch is being kept at the movements of the members of the two gangs in the jail,” said the SSP, while adding that a meeting was held with the jail authorities in this connection. He took stock of the security arrangements being made following the incident.

Both gangs were working in a close coordination and were hand in glove in different crimes. Following the Bhakna encounter, in which two gangsters, Jagroop Rupa and Manpreet Singh alias Mannu Kosa of the Bishnoi gang, were shot dead by the police in July last year, they had developed a rivalry. Bishnoi suspected that the duo was killed after the Jaggu gang leaked the information about their whereabouts. Jaggu had denied this. They were on the run following the broad daylight killing of Sidhu Moosewala in Jawaharke village in Mansa in May.

Meanwhile, the police got the post-mortem of the two deceased conducted at the Tarn Taran Civil Hospital under the supervision of Sub- Divisional Judicial Magistrate Gurpreet Kaur. A three-member medical board of Dr Jagjit Singh, Dr Gurpreet Singh and Dr Satinder Singh conducted the autopsy which was also videographed.

Family members of the two deceased demanded a judicial probe into their killing. They said the duo was pushed into the world of crime due to atrocities unleashed by the police.

Toofan’s father Harbhajan Singh, an ex-serviceman, said Mandeep was preparing for going to his relatives living abroad but the police made him criminal. They wanted him to work with some criminal elements, but he had refused. Later, his name was joined with gangsters. He also blamed several cops for making Toofan a criminal.

Manmohan Singh’s friend Kuldeep Singh said he was involved in different social works, including arranging marriages of poor girls, organising blood donation camps, etc.

Meanwhile, a social media post from the account of gangster Goldy Brar’s claimed the responsibility. He said they had thrashed Bhau in the jail complex at the behest of Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, which led to the Sunday’s clash. In the post, he said they were involved in the killing of Rupa and Kosa by leaking information.

Responding to the post, Bhagwanpuria threatened to take a revenge. “An eye for an eye, we will soon take revenge for the killing of our brothers,” he said.

Another post from the account of Davinder Bambiha was doing the rounds in which he claimed that Bishnoi and Goldy Brar used Bhanwanpuria for setting up their gangs in Punjab.

SSP Chohan said the veracity of such posts could not be verified though they were not taking the things lightly and a close watch was being kept on the activities of the members of the two gangs.

Goldy Brar claims responsibility

• A social media post from the account of gangster Goldy Brar has claimed the responsibility of the attack
• He said the deceased had thrashed Bhau in the jail at the behest of Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, which led to the Sunday’s clash
• Bhagwanpuria also threatened to take a revenge. “An eye for an eye, we will soon take revenge for the killing of our brothers,” he said
• SSP Gurmeet Singh Chohan said the veracity of such online posts cannot be verified