Kabaddi player’s murder: Five more arrested, including ex-serviceman with 21 cases

The police have also recovered seven pistols – including five foreign-made .30 bore pistols and two .315 country-made pistols – and three vehicles (Mahindra XUV, Toyota Etios and Hyundai Verna) from their possession.

International kabaddi player Sandeep Singh Nangal Ambian was shot dead by five unidentified assailants during a kabaddi match in Jalandhar’s Malian village on March 14 this year.

The SSP said Harwinder alias Fauji, who was nabbed from a village near Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh, was the main coordinator behind the killing. Fauji also provided logistics support, including weapons for sharpshooters, getaway vehicles, safe houses, training in weapon handling, financial support and organising recce ahead of the crime.

Fauji, the main coordinator of the Kaushal-Daggar gang which is active in Delhi, Haryana and Western UP, had in February this year taken voluntary retirement from 6 Jat Battalion after 18 years in the armed service. He is a history-sheeter and faces at least 21 criminal cases pertaining to murder, armed dacoity and extortion in various districts of Western UP and Haryana. He is a proclaimed offender in several cases. The police said he has been involved in criminal activities for a long time.

The SSP said accused Vikas Malhe, who was nabbed from Faridabad, and the main shooter was tasked with identifying and training the shooters, and later he also accompanied Fauji to commit the targeted killing. During the investigation, Malhe also revealed two murders committed by him in Punjab, which were previously not known to the police – In June 2021, Sukhmeet Singh Deputy, who ran private transport services, was shot dead in Jalandhar and in January this year, Manpreet Challa and Manpreet Vicki, associates of slain gangster Kulvir Naruana, were shot dead in Bathinda to avenge the arrest of Fateh Nagri, another jailed gangster of Sangrur, SSP Sharma added.

The other accused, Dhaulia and Kaur, were arrested for harbouring members of the Kaushal-Daggar gang and providing them a safe passage as well as mobile SIM cards, the SSP said. Also, for the first time, even sympathisers of such criminals are being named in the case, he added.

The fifth accused Yadwinder Singh, a close associate of Jujhar Singh who was previously arrested in the case, worked as a mediator between the gang members.

The police had cracked the murder case on March 19 with the arrest of four main conspirators – identified as Sangrur resident Fateh Singh alias Yuvraj, Kaushal Chaudhary of Naharpur Roopa in Gurgaon, Amit Dagar of Maheshpur Palvan village in Haryana and Simranjeet Singh alias Jujhar Singh, a gangster from UP’s Madhopur Pilibhit village. All four are history-sheeters with over 20 criminal cases – mostly of murder and attempt to murder – and were brought on production warrants from different jails.