Punjab: 2 who chopped off fingers of a man nabbed after shootout

The SSP said that when the accused had reached near the Shambhu border, they realised that they were being followed and opened fired at the police party. The police retaliated in self defence, and first took out the tires of the car the accused were travelling on.

“The main accused in the case, Gaurav, tried to escape from the spot, but was hit once and sustained a bullet injury to his thigh. He was later admitted to a hospital,” the SSP said.

He added that the police have recovered a .9 mm pistol, three bullet shells and a live cartridge from the accused, besides having seized the Swift car.

The police officials said that both the accused had criminal backgrounds. Gaurav had come out of jail on bail around a month ago and currently has at least three cases of assault, attempt to murder and drug smuggling pending against him at Balongi police station. Tarun was also a history sheeter and has been booked in cases of assault in the past.

Hardeep Singh alias Raji, whose fingers were chopped off, said that two men had met him on February 8 in the market in Mohali village and told him that they were staff from the CIA.

“They took me to Badmajra and then started asking me about my brother Bunty. They suspected that I too was involved in the murder, and decided to chop off my fingers,” Hardeep said.

Police said that Gaurav’s brother Bunty had been murdered around six months ago and he suspected Hardeep had his cousins to have played a role in that murder. Investigators said that Gaurav’s second brother Ravi is also in jail.

SSP Garg claimed that both the arrested men were active members of the Bhupi Rana gang.

“Our team is completing all formalities with Ambala police. We suspect that more crimes may come to the fore once the accused have been interrogated,” the SSP added.