Chandigarh, March 19 – In a major breakthrough, the Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF), in a joint operation with the Special Task Force of Haryana, arrested two shooters on Thursday in Chandigarh's Sector-9, who were involved in the murder of a property dealer, following a brief exchange of fire. The AGTF also recovered three sophisticated weapons from their possession, Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here.
The arrested individuals are Rajan alias Piyush Pehalwan, a resident of Ferozepur, and Pritam Shah, a resident of Nawashahr, both located in Punjab.
The recovered weapons include a .30 bore PX-5 pistol, a .30 caliber Chinese pistol, and a .32 caliber pistol, along with ammunition.
According to information, Charanpreet Singh alias Chinni, the victim, was shot dead by two assailants in Sector-9 on Wednesday.
DGP Yadav said that the accused are key associates of the fugitive gangster Lucky Patial of the Bambiha gang.
"Preliminary investigation has also revealed that Rajan alias Piyush Pehalwan was also wanted in the high-profile murder of Yadwinder Singh, driver of Jiwanjot Singh alias Jugnu," the DGP added.
He said that the AGTF Punjab has uncovered the entire module and arrested the accused in less than 30 hours.
Further investigations are ongoing, he added.
Sharing operational details, Punjab Additional Director General of Police (AGTF), Promod Ban, said that following the incident, the AGTF promptly launched a special operation "Operation Silent Trigger" under the supervision of AGTF Deputy Inspector General of Police Gurmit Singh Chauhan to identify and arrest the accused involved in this case.
He added that during the operation, the accused opened fire on police teams led by Punjab Superintendent of Police (AGTF) Bikramjit Singh Brar.
In the retaliatory exchange, both accused sustained injuries and were immediately shifted to the hospital for treatment, the AGTF SP said.
The Punjab Additional Director General of Police said that initial questioning has also revealed that the accused, Piyush, came from Malaysia via Nepal to carry out the killing on the directions of his foreign-based handler.
