The Punjab Police on Sunday, 5 June, arrested five more people in connection with the murder of kabaddi player Sandeep Singh Nangal Ambian, taking the total arrest number to nine.
Harvinder Singh alias Fauji, Vikas Malhe, and three others have been apprehended. The three others are Sachin Dhaulia of Rajasthan's Alwar, Manjot Kaur from Sangrur, and Yadwinder Singh of Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit, reported The Tribune.
Harvinder Singh or Fauji, a resident of Bulandshahr, was the one behind the murder plotting while Vikas Malhe, from Gurgaon, was the shooter. The three others had supposedly provided logistical support.
Sandeep Singh, an international-level kabaddi player, was shot dead on 14 March while he was attending a kabaddi tournament in Malian village near Punjab's Jalandhar.
The shooting was allegedly a part of gang war – the attack being carried out by the Kaushal Chaudhary gang to target the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang.
The police have managed to recover seven pistols and three vehicles from the accused.
As per The Tribune,
Vikas Malhe also had the job of training the shooters and confessed to two other murders during investigation that were earlier not known to the police. He was arrested in Faridabad.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Swapan Sharma told The Tribune that Sachin Dhaulia and Manjot Kaur were apprehended for hiding and helping members of Kaushal-Daggar gang.
As many as 18 places have been raided till date that were used as hideouts by the gang members, SSP Sharma added.
Previous Arrests
The four previously arrested in the killing of Sandeep Singh were identified as Fateh Singh of Sangrur, Amit Dagar of Haryana's Maheshpur Palvan village, Kaushal Chaudhary of Gurgaon's Naharpur Roopa, and Simranjeet Singh of Uttar Pradesh's Madhopur Pilibhit, as per reports.
The aforementioned already face more than 20 criminal cases, most of which are murder or attempt to murder. They were arrested by Punjab Police on 19 March.
The police also identified three main conspirators – Producer and Director of a Canadian Sath TV and Radio Show Snover Dhillon; Sukhwinder Singh, and Jagjit Singh, who is currently living in Malaysia. The former two are known to be residing in Canada. The three allegedly conspired the murder.
More Details
According to a report in The Times of India, the player was shot dead by four unidentified assailants when he was coming out of the tournament site. The assailants reportedly arrived in a car and fled the scene after shooting him.
Malhe and Fauji were reportedly present at the shooting site.
As per police, at least 8-10 bullets were fired at the 40-year-old Sandeep, who was rushed to a hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
A video of the murder had also surfaced on social media.
A resident of Nangal Ambiyan Village at Shahkot, Sandeep had settled in England along with his family. He, however, used to conduct kabaddi tournaments in Punjab, the police said.
(With inputs from The Tribune.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)