Hong Kong court rejects Nabha jailbreak mastermind’s bail plea

Patiala: The Kowloon City Court on Wednesday denied bail to

Nabha jailbreak key conspirator

Ramanjit Singh Romi, who is in the custody of Hong Kong Police. He was arrested in connection with the HK$ 33 million heist carried out by him in Choi Hung Estate, which is one of the oldest public housing estates in Hong Kong located in the Wong Tai Sin District of Kowloon in February this year.

Romi had set up a control room in Hong Kong to coordinate the movement of six Nabha jail escapees — Vicky Gondar, Neeta Deol, Aman Dhotian, Gurpreet Sekhon, KLF chief Harminder Mintoo and militant Kashmir Singh — after they escaped from the maximum security jail on November 27 in 2016. He was arrested by the Hong Kong police on February 21 this year, when out on bail in connection with another HK$3.2 million Hung Hom robbery he executed in March 2016.

Romi had arranged funds and weaponry to execute the Nabha jailbreak and later help the escaped gangsters to stay afloat while on the run. He had fled to Hong Kong in July 2016, a few months before the Nabha jailbreak. The Punjab police through the Union government had later approached the Interpol which had got a Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued against him. However, as the RCN failed to state that he was also a permanent resident of Hong Kong, Romi was able to stay off the Interpol radar for almost nine months in Hong Kong.

According to information received here, the Kowloon City Court stated that Romi was an internationally wanted criminal and thus was thus being denied bail. The judge told the jail authorities to produce Romi before the court on every eighth day for a review.

In October, last year, the police investigators had found that Romi had arranged for an assault rifle and narcotics to be sent to the house of his mother at Masana village in Bathinda by using his links with Pakistan-based ISI backed pro-Khalistan operative Harmeet Singh PhD and was even trying to set base in Patiala to carry out anti-national activities. In March, India had invoked the two-decade-old India-Hong Kong extradition treaty to bring him back to the country. But according to the legal experts, the Hong Kong government would allow his extradition only after he faces their native law in regard with the two robberies that he has been charged with.

Meanwhile, the legal team of USA based Sikh for Justice, who is also courting controversy for launching referendum 2020, are defending Romi in the Kowloon City Court.