YAD leader arrested for sheltering gangsters
Friday, 04/10/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131004/punjab.htm#3
Bathinda : Harjinder Singh alias Bittu, senior vice-president of the District Youth Akali Dal (YAD), and three members of an alleged gang of ‘supari’ killers were arrested after a five-hour police operation in the wee hours at Jagha Ram Tirath village in Talwandi Sabo today.
An embarrassed District YAD chief, Balkar Singh Sidhu, hastened to announce Bittu's expulsion from the party.
The police claimed that the four were forced to surrender and not a single shot was fired. Bittu, husband of Akali sarpanch Kirpal Kaur, was often seen on stage at SAD functions. His pictures with Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal appeared in the papers only a few days ago.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ravcharan Singh Brar said Bittu had been arrested for harbouring gangster Jagseer Singh Seera, an Akali worker of Sidhana village, Gurpreet Singh Sekhon of Mudki in Ferozepur and Ranjodh Singh of Kotha Guru Ka in Bathinda.
Seera is believed to be close to an Akali Minister.
The police released a list of FIRS against the trio for robbery, murder and snatching. The three were named in the FIR registered after the murderous attack on Lakha Sidhana of the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) in Adampur village near Bhagta Bhai Ke in Bathinda on May 16.
While Sidhana survived the attack, his associate Jasbir Singh Jassi was killed.Two others were wounded.
The three, along with more than 10 accomplices, had opened fire at the end of a Congress-PPP rally in favour of a zila parishad candidate.
The SSP said Bittu, who had a criminal background and was on bail, provided shelter to the gangsters.
“The fact that we have nabbed the gangsters proves that there was no pressure on the police. None is above the law," the SSP said.
Ruling out a political conspiracy behind the attack on Sidhana, he said the latter had enmity with nambardar Gurtej Singh of Kangar village who given a ‘supari’ of Rs 10 lakh to Seera to eliminate Sidhana.
“The Seera gang is a breakaway faction of another gang led by Shera. The latter was killed in a police encounter last year. We have information that Seera was working at the behest of criminals behind bars. We are going to take action against such criminals,” the SSP said.
He said that two pistols, 25 live cartridges, a revolver with five live cartridges and two rifles were recovered from the gangsters. An Innova car with fake documents (PB-029J-0085) had been impounded.
