Chhatrapati Sambhajiangar: In filmy style, a team of city police arrested six members of Punjab-based gang on Samrduddhi Expressway in the wee hours of Saturday.
They murdered three persons at Ferozpur in Punjab and were staying at Nanded for the past several days.
The accused who were equipped with weapons were running away from the State through Samruddhi Mahamarg.
A total of nine persons of the gang murdered three persons--Dildeep Singh, Akash Dipsingh and Jaspreet Kaur- of another gang at Punjab's Ferozpur city on September 3, out of Gangwar.
The Punjab Police were also shaken by this gang war which has been going on for the past two months.
Punjab Anti-Gangster Task Force’sAdditional Director General Pramod Ban was trying to trace the accused.
After the incident, the attackers reached Nanded by train on Thursday. They were trying to escape to Mumbai in a private car on Friday after staying in a religious place.
Promod Ban learned that the accused were using SamruddhiExpresswayto run away from the State on Saturday. Ban contacted Police Commissioner Pravin Pawar in the wee hours today. Pawar ordered Crime Branch Inspector Sandeep Gurme to nab the gangsters along with the Quick Response Team (QRT).
The accused were running in a car. A team of 10 officers and 40 constables led by crime branch police inspector (PI) Sandeep Gurme and PI Cidco Police Station Gajanan Kalyankar. The names of other officers are APIs-Kashinath Mahandule, Vinayak Shelke, Sandeep Solanke, Vishal Bodkhe, Pravin Wagh, Prashant Mundhe, Mahadev Gaikwad, Sachin Viaal and Balbhim Gore.
The police department made all preparations. It was decided to catch the gangsters in the tunnel as soon as they took their vehicle on Samrudhi from Jalna.
The police personnel were sitting in the vehicle with AK-47 rifles on both sides. Three trucks parked at the end of the tunnel towards the city. The Innova car of the gangsters stopped on reaching there. Police surrounded the car from all directions.
With the possibility of possessing weapons, police instructed them to get down from a distance. However, as they were not getting down, two PSIs smashed the glass of the vehicle with the front part of the AK-47.
Finally, the police team arrested the accused at 5.45 am, before they fled from the State.
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Surveillance by NIA
Akshay Kumar alias Bachha Balbirsingh (21), Gurpreet Darshansingh Gopi (25), Dilersingh Maninder Chiwansingh (22), Prince Kaka Sandhu (18), Sukhchainsingh Gabbarsingh Jas (20) and Ravindrasingh KarnelSingh (21) were arrested. Two months ago, there was a firing between the gangs of the deceased and the accused.
Some of the gang members of the accused were seriously injured. Both gangs were under the surveillance of the NIA for many days. With gang members' arrest, officers of Punjab police arrived in the city by plane in the evening. Five more teams will arrive by Sunday morning.
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36 hrs surveillance of intelligence agencies
After the murder incident, the central intelligence agencies became alert. It was learned that they were in Nanded on Friday morning through their local networks.
Their movements were being constantly monitored. The accused spent nearly 45 minutes in Jalna at 3 am today. The intelligence officers obtained this information. When they took their vehicle on SamruddhiSuperhighway, the city police were instructed by intelligence agencies to arrest them.
This action was taken by keeping them under surveillance for almost 36 hours. Commissioner of Police Pawar announced a reward of Rs 3 lakhs to the police team.