Dera follower’s murder: Two shooters from Punjab, one who provided logistics held

Kataria, who was out on bail in the 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, was shot dead by six assailants in his shop at Kotkapura in Faridkot on November 10. He was under police protection.

The DGP said the Punjab Police had established the identity of two of the main shooters— Mani and Goldy— on the very first day and an extensive manhunt was launched soon after.

“In an intelligence-led joint operation, Counter Intelligence (Jalandhar), Hoshiarpur police and Faridkot police nabbed both the shooters from the outskirts of Hoshiarpur district, when they were waiting to catch a bus to flee to Himachal Pradesh,” he said.

He said both the shooters have criminal cases pertaining to extortion and other crimes pending against them and their interrogation is expected to unravel the conspiracy hatched by the Canada-based terrorist Goldy Brar and his network of associates, who have acted as facilitators in this crime.

“Goldy Brar is the mastermind of this conspiracy,” said Yadav.

Goldy Brar is also the main accused in the murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, who was shot dead in May.

The DGP said the Faridkot Police, in a simultaneous operation, arrested Baljit Manna from the Jaito area in Faridkot for providing logistic support to the three Haryana-based shooters including two minors.

Earlier, three suspected shooters were nabbed within hours of the murder from Patiala’s Bakshiwala village by the special cell of the Delhi police. One of the suspects was identified as Jitender Singh (26) of Rohtak while two others were minors.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Faridkot, Rajpal Singh said police have secured permission for questioning the minors.

According to police, while four shooters were from Haryana, two were from Punjab. One Haryana module shooter is yet to be arrested

Goldy Brar had claimed responsibility for the killing in a purported social media post.