Nabha Jailbreak: Escaped prisoners were a prize catch

November 27, 2016

Chandigarh, Nov 27: The Punjab Police and security agencies are investigating the recent activities of the five prisoners who escaped from the maximum security Nabha Jailpremises on Sunday following a well-planned attack by unidentified armed men.

nabhaPolice sources said CCTV footage of the jail, call records of jail officials and others and posts on social media sites were being studied to know the involvement of people in the sensational jailbreak.

Of the prisoners who escaped, Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo was arrested in November 2014 as he returned to India from Thailand after being deported from there.

He was nabbed from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in New Delhi along with an aide after security and intelligence agencies tracked him.

Mintoo's aide Gurpreet Singh, also deported from Thailand, was also arrested.

Mintoo is wanted in several terror cases in Punjab. Police had claimed that Mintoo was planning terrorist strikes in the region.

"The KLF chief was wanted in 10 terrorist offences and his key aide Gurpreet Singh had been tasked to execute a conspiracy of assassinating Hindu leaders in 2013 which was foiled by Punjab Police," Punjab Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) Hardeep Singh Dhillon had said then.

Punjab Police traced and located them in Thailand in co-ordination with central agencies. On November 7, they were brought from Thailand to New Delhi in co-ordination with Thai authorities and arrested.

Two Punjab police officers camped in Thailand for three weeks while tracking the terrorists there.

"It was established that Harminder Singh was using a fake Malaysian passport issued in the name of Gurdeep Singh (Passport A-22967012 issued in Ipoh, Malaysia) and a fake Malaysian ID Card No. 610320086949," ADG Dhillon said.

Mintoo was trying to revive and strengthen the KLF with foreign-based supporters. He visited Pakistan and later travelled to Italy, Belgium, Germany, France and other European countries for 11 months (June 2013 to May 2014) before coming to Southeast Asia.

The Punjab Police came to know about the conspiracy to eliminate Hindu leaders after sleeper cells were busted by the police in 2013-14.

Mintoo had close contact with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers.

Another terrorist, Kashmir Singh Galwadi, who was involved in an attack on a Punjab Hindu leader in Gurdaspur in 2013, also escaped. He was also associated with the pro-Khalistan movement.

Gangster Vicky Gonder, arrested in December last year, was suspected to be behind the murderous attack on another gangster, Sukha Kahlwan, near Jalandhar in January 2015. Kahlwan was in police protection and was being taken for a court hearing when the attack took place at Phagwara town.

Kahlwan was gunned down while the police personnel accompanying him failed to repulse the attack.

Gonder and other gangsters had been in the news for running the affairs of their gangs from inside Punjab jails and also using social media.

Gangster Gurpreet Sekhon, who also escaped on Sunday, led another gang which was involved in murder, kidnappings, extortion and highway robberies.

The other two gangsters, Neeta Deol and Vikramjit, were also involved in various crimes in Punjab and other places.

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Agencies
January 6,2020

New Delhi, Jan 6: A blind student who is pursuing research in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was also attacked by the mob that perpetrated violence in the University yesterday.

"I thought that the mob which came yesterday would disperse after raising a few slogans but they indulged in violence. They were targeting ABVP students. They beat me with sticks and rods. When I went to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, I came to know that there are many other injured students there," Surya Prakash, the blind student pursuing research in the University told ANI.

"I talked to my family members. They are really worried about the situation here. I qualified in the National Eligibility Test (NET) last year but I want to study and hence I am continuing research in JNU. How can we do anything in this atmosphere of fear? I am receiving calls from anonymous numbers threatening me not to come in front of the media. They are saying that as I am blind, I would become the face of this case," he added.

Another PhD student, Santosh Bhagat recounted his experience.

"In the evening at around 7 pm, many masked men entered the hostel. They had rods and sticks in their hands. We tried to go out but the attackers had entered the premises by then. I locked my room from inside but the attackers broke the door and entered my room and attacked me. They pushed me from the first floor and I fell down and sustained an injury. Later, I took shelter at one of the Professor's flat. Later, I was taken to the AIIMS Trauma Cantre," Bhagat said.

On Sunday evening, more than 30 students of the university, including JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh, were injured and were taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre after a masked mob entered the JNU and attacked them and professors with sticks and rods.

The JNU administration and political leaders, cutting across political lines, condemned the attack on students and urged the police to take action against the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, the situation remained tense but peaceful outside JNU on Monday morning as the university guards maintained a strict vigil at the gate, checking I-cards of all those entering the university.

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News Network
June 25,2020

Jun 25: A 16-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide at her house in east Delhi and her family members secretly buried her body, which was later exhumed for post-mortem, police said on Wednesday.

The girl, whose family hails from Jharkhand, allegedly hanged herself in a room in her house on Monday, they said.

No suicide note was recovered from the spot, police said.

Her body was exhumed on Tuesday as per the directions of the Sub Divisional Magistrate of the area. The process was carried out as her family members secretly buried her without informing the police.

The post-mortem will be conducted after Covid-19 tests, police said.

The incident took place on Monday. The reason behind her taking the extreme step is yet to be ascertained, they said.

Police said the girl lived with her mother and two siblings. The family hails from Jharkhand and are financially extremely weak. Her father died two years ago, they said.

After the father’s death, the girl's mother along with her siblings took her body to a burial ground and buried her, police said.

The police said the matter came to their notice after a neighbour alerted them about it. Following the information the body was exhumed, they said.

On questioning the girl's mother, she told police that she didn't know that one has to inform police in a suicide case, a senior police officer said.

Inquest proceedings have been initiated, police said.

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Agencies
February 16,2020

Five Bajrang Dal activists have been arrested for allegedly indulging in vandalism in the city on Valentines Day, police said.

They said about 10 to 15 activists on two wheelers vandalised a shop in Kattupalli area in Hyderabad on February 14.

They held aloft flags and raised slogans against celebration of Valentines Day and "created havoc" at different malls, a police press release said.

On receiving information, police rushed to a mall, but the Bajrang Dal activists escaped from the spot.

Five of them were later identified with the help of CCTV footage and arrested, police said.

The others too have been identified and efforts were on to nab them, police said.

Two cases have been registered against them under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code on a complaint from shop owners, the release said.

 

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