Chandigarh, June 2: The Punjab Police on Monday arrested the alleged mastermind behind the recent 2 kg gold dacoity in Ludhiana, which he had reportedly committed to mobilise funds for carrying out a spate of targeted killings as part of a pro-Khalistan agenda to disturb the state’s peace & communal harmony and spread mayhem.
A special team of Organized Crime Control Unit (OCCU) arrested the most wanted gangster-terrorist, identified as Tejinder Singh @ Teja s/o Jujhar Singh r/o Mehadpur, PS Balachaur (district SBS Nagar), from SAS Nagar.
DGP Dinkar Gupta disclosed that a set of Punjab Police uniform, along with an ID card of Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) – a paramilitary force of MHA , were seized from Tejinder, who was also the prime accused in the January 2020 car-jacking incident of a Toyota Fortuner from Kharar (distt. SAS Nagar).
The accused reportedly planned to use the uniform and card etc to gain access to restricted areas for commission of various kinds of crimes, including terrorist actions, said Gupta, adding that he clearly posed a high security risk to the state.
The police have also recovered from Tejinder’s possession a Chinese 30 caliber Pistol, 10 cartridges and one Chevrolet Optra car. Investigations have revealed that he had also prepared other fake ID cards such as Aadhar card, Driving license from Noida (U.P.), in order to evade arrest. While being on the run, he stayed at different locations in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana, said the DGP.
Teja, who had been arrested earlier too for involvement in more than 25 criminal cases including murder, attempt to murder, car-jacking, dacoity etc., further disclosed that he was radicalized and motivated to carry out targeted killings by some hardcore terrorists in whose contact he came during his stints in various prisons.
During preliminary questioning, Tejinder Singh @ Teja also revealed that he and his close associate Rachpal Singh @ Daula r/o Village Bhuchar Kalan (district Tarn Taran) were planning to loot a bank cash van used to transport currency from main branches of SBI to ATMs in Maur and Talwandi Sabo. They had also checked out the route and conducted a recce for the same.
After his release from prison in December 2019, both he and Rachpal Singh @ Daula, who was earlier in jail for his involvement in cross border smuggling of drugs and weapons, and is now absconding in a recent case of murder in district Tarn Taran, had procured sophisticated weapons from across the border. They were also expecting a fresh consignment of automatic weapons/drugs, said the DGP.
A criminal case has been registered against Tejinder Singh @ Teja and his associates at State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) SAS Nagar under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other relevant sections of law. Further investigations are in progress.
