Canada-based gangster Landa's associate among four held in Punjab: Police

The arrested associate has been identified as Vijay Kumar alias Toti of Bhikha Nangal village in Kartarpur, Jalandhar, while his three aides are Amardeep Singh alias Patwari, Sooraj Singh and Rahul Lahoch, all residents of Jalandhar, the DGP said.

Chandigarh:An associate of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa and his three aides were arrested and four pistols along with ammunition were seized from their possession, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Friday. The arrested associate has been identified as Vijay Kumar alias Toti of Bhikha Nangal village in Kartarpur, Jalandhar, while his three aides are Amardeep Singh alias Patwari, Sooraj Singh and Rahul Lahoch, all residents of Jalandhar, the DGP said.

Although all the accused persons are history-sheeters, main accused Kumar is facing as many as 18 criminal cases related to drugs, illegal weapons, kidnapping and extortion, he said. Yadav said acting on a reliable input that Kumar, along with his gang members, was hatching a conspiracy to commit a crime in the Kartarpur area, police teams from Jalandhar Rural conducted a special checking near the Durgi area of Jalandhar and arrested all the four persons riding on two motorcycles.

Police recovered four pistols including two .32 bore country-made pistols along with 10 live cartridges, one 9 mm country-made pistol along with two live cartridges and one .12 bore country-made pistol along with one live cartridge from their possession, the DGP said. The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Jalandhar Rural, said two of the arrested accused were also wanted by the Kapurthala Police in a kidnapping case, wherein they had abducted a resident of Gaji Gadana village in Kapurthala district and sought Rs 3 crore as ransom for his release.

An FIR was registered in the case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Police Station Dhilwan in Kapurthala, he said. Meanwhile, a fresh case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Arms Act at Police Station Kartarpur against the four men, police said. (PTI)