Shooters behind Chandigarh & Jalandhar firing arrested after encounter

Chandigarh: The gang behind a chain of shootings and a botched carjacking across the Tricity and Punjab's Jalandhar finally hit a dead end on Wednesday, when Chandigarh Police's crime branch pinned them down in a dramatic pre-dawn encounter near Sector 39's paddy market. Three men — including the two key shooters — were arrested after an exchange of gunfire.Police said the same crew had opened fire outside a Sector 32 pharmacy, sprayed bullets at a property dealer's SUV in Jalandhar, and attempted a car robbery in Derabassi — all within days, all while staying a step ahead of multiple police teams.
The encounter occurred around 6am, during which the two shooters — Rahul, a resident of Hallomajra, and Deval Sharma alias Ricky — were injured. The third accused was identified as Kulwinder Singh alias Preet, a resident of Narayangarh Chungia village in Mohali, who allegedly provided pick-and-drop support to the shooters in his car. Police had earlier arrested Rahul Bisht, a Sector-46 resident and lab owner.Police said the crime branch had received a tip-off that the two shooters and Preet were travelling to Chandigarh in a Maruti WagonR. A naka was set up near the paddy market in Sec 39 around 6am. While trying to evade cops, the car crashed into a streetlight. Cornered by cops, the trio got down from the car and allegedly opened fire, pumping seven rounds at the cops. The police fired back, hitting both shooters in the legs before overpowering them. ASI Sanjay Kumar took a bullet to his chest, but his bulletproof jacket saved him, said SP (crime) Jasbir Singh.The injured were admitted to GMSH-16. Police recovered two .32-bore pistols with live rounds and the getaway vehicle from the spot.The SP said the same shooters had earlier attempted to snatch a car at gunpoint in Derabassi on Jan 18 and had also fired at the Toyota Fortuner of property dealer Sarbtej Singh in Jalandhar.Earlier, the Crime Branch had arrested Rahul Bisht and obtained three days of police remand. During his interrogation, police recovered a country-made pistol, a magazine, two live bullets, four empty shells, 46.26g heroin and 392g opium on his disclosure, leading to a separate NDPS and Arms Act case.Police said Bisht told investigators he was associated with 10–12 laboratories for blood testing. During a visit to Mohali, he met gangster Saba of Gobindgarh while collecting a blood sample, and they stayed in touch through Signal. Bisht allegedly provided information about potential extortion targets, while Saba made extortion calls from abroad.Bisht then contacted Rahul, a former employee at his laboratory, and his friend Ricky, both of whom were reportedly drug users. According to police, Saba arranged a pistol, two magazines and ₹30,000 for the shooters at Rajpura.On the night of January 15, Rahul and Ricky reached Sector 32 on a stolen scooter. Rahul drove while Ricky allegedly fired at Sewak Medicose. After the incident, they went to Sector 46 and met Bisht and Preet, who were waiting in a car.Following this, Saba and Bisht asked the duo to carry out another firing at the vehicle of property dealer Sarbtej Singh in Rama Mandi, Jalandhar. Later, Rahul, Ricky and Preet travelled to Jalandhar and returned to Mohali on January 18, when they attempted to snatch a four-wheeler at a Derabassi petrol pump but fled after staff raised an alarm. They then returned to Jalandhar, where they allegedly fired three rounds at Sarbtej Singh's Fortuner, police said.