Wanted in 25 cases, robber shot dead in encounter; ASI hurt

“On Wednesday, a police party led by CIA Inspector Beant Juneja was chasing Sukhdev, who was riding a two-wheeler. When he was intercepted at Panjeta village, he opened fire at the police team. He was killed in cross-firing,” said CP Chahal.

The top officer further said that around 20 rounds of firing took place and a cop (ASI Daljeet Singh) was also injured in the encounter. “A bullet was also fired towards Inspector Beant Juneja but he escaped unhurt, thanks to his bulletproof jacket,” Chahal said, adding that the message to the criminals was “very clear”. “You cannot escape after opening fire at police.”

Three of his accomplices who were also arrested on Wednesday have been identified as Aryan Singh, alias Raja of Gorakhpur, UP; Sunil Kumar and Balwinder, alias Bobby of Machhiwara.

DCP Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said that the modus operandi of this gang of four was to commit robberies at gunpoint. “However, in the recent cases, they had even opened fire at the victims. In the past few days, this gang had committed several robberies in Ludhiana after opening fire including those at a chemist shop, a liquor vend, a grocery store, a money exchange shop, and a fuel-filling station, among others. Sukhdev was booked in at least 25 cases registered at Khanna, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur,” DCP Teja said, adding that a two-wheeler and a pistol have been recovered from the encounter spot.

Sukhdev was killed in cross-firing. (Express Photo)

ASI Daljeet Singh received a bullet injury to his left thigh and is undergoing treatment at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), said DCP Teja.

On December 8, Sukhdev along with his aides had shot a chemist in his leg and robbed him of Rs 1.20 lakh in cash, mobile phone and a laptop in Jamalpur area. On December 10, the gang had targeted a money exchange facility in Hadian village of Koom Kalan and robbed the shopkeeper of Rs 45,000 in cash and four mobile phones at gunpoint. They had also robbed a customer of Rs 10,000 in cash.

This is the second such encounter by Ludhiana police within the past 15 days. Earlier, on November 29, two wanted men who were accused of kidnapping and assaulting industrialist Sambhav Jain were shot dead in exchange of fire with a police party led by Inspector Kulwant Singh.