Hong Kong court allows extradition of Nabha jailbreak key conspirator Romi

A Hong Kong court on Tuesday ruled in favour of the extradition of Nabha jailbreak mastermind Ramanjit Singh, alias Romi, a Punjab government press release said.

Punjab: With the coordinated efforts of the Punjab Police and the Indian Government, a Hong Kong Court on Tuesday ruled in favour of the extradition of fugitive Ramanjit Singh alias Romi, the key conspirator in the Nabha Jail Break, as well as several other major crimes.

The fugitive, a big fish in the drug trade, was wanted in several sensational heinous crime cases, such as criminal conspiracy in 'Maximum Security Nabha Jail Break' on November 27, 2016.

He was arrested in June 2016 in FIR 60/16 of Police station Kotwali Nabha following the recovery of weapons and fake credit cards with skimmed data of dormant accounts of different banks. He got bail in August 2016 and fled to Hong Kong after violating bail orders conditions.

A cousin of hardcore criminal Ramanjit alias Rami Mashana, who is convicted in several murder cases, Romi developed links with many seasoned criminals and terrorists in the maximum-security jail Nabha where he was lodged following his arrest. Ramanjit Singh @ Romi, son of Balbir Singh, r/o village Bangi Ruldu, Talwandi Sabo, PS Raman Mandi, District Bathinda, hatched the conspiracy to help six hardcore criminals, including two terrorists, escape the Nabha jail.

On November 27, 2016, sixteen criminals launched an attack on the jail and opened indiscriminate fire and managed to engineer the escape of six most wanted criminals, including Harjinder Singh alias Vicky Gounder, Neeta Deol, Gurpreet Sekhon, Aman Dhotian and two terrorists were Harminder Mintoo and Kashmir Singh Galwaddi.

A detailed investigation was immediately launched, which was closely monitored by the present Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta, who was then DGP Intelligence.

During the course of the investigation, 32 accused were arrested by the police in various highly planned operations. The operations were successfully handled by AIG Counter Intelligence Gurmeet Singh Chauhan, the then SP Investigation Patiala and now SP City Mohali Harvinder Virk, and a team of the then CIA in-charge Patiala and now DSP Bikramjit Brar.

The extradition/ surrender proceedings against Ramanjit alias Romi were initiated in the year 2018 when he was arrested in Hong Kong. A team comprising AIG Counter Intelligence Gurmeet Singh Chauhan Harvinder Singh Virk, and District Attorney (Prosecution) Sanjeev Gupta went to Hong Kong to pursue the case in June 2018 and secured the provisional arrest of the fugitive in cases registered at Kotwali Nabha, according to a police spokesperson.

Harvinder Singh Virk prepared a strong surrender case as per the legal requirements of Hong Kong and India, and personally visited the Department of Justice Hong Kong a number of times in connection with the court case.

He also successfully rebutted the false allegations levelled by Romi regarding torture while in police custody by Bikramjit Brar and CIA team. The supplementary evidence was also prepared by the Punjab police.

It may be noted that the Punjab Police made a formal request for provisional arrest under Article 10 of the bilateral Extradition Treaty, signed in Hong Kong on June 28, 1997, between the Government of India and Government of Hong Kong, in respect of fugitive Romi as he was wanted in several criminal cases.

The request cited Romi’s alleged involvement in the crime of criminal conspiracy in order to promote terrorist activities in India and crimes of Robbery, Murder, Extortion, Smuggling of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, as well as the supply of weapons to hardcore criminals with the help of his local associates.

Underlining the urgency for Romi's extradition, the Punjab police stated that during the course of the investigation and interrogation of other arrested persons, including Mintoo, they had found that Romi was the main conspirator and facilitator, who coordinated the attack on the maximum-security Nabha Jail by providing financial and logistical support to the escapees after the jailbreak.

The State Police further corroborated that Romi was still absconding and living in Hong Kong and indulging in criminal activities by coordinating and facilitating the commission of crime in India and was a perceptible threat to national security, and therefore needed to be apprehended urgently.