After a three-week-long operation, the Jalandhar rural police on Friday claimed to have busted an extortion and arms smuggling racket affiliated to the 'Pinda' gang with the arrest of its all 13 members.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Swapan Sharma said a close aide of the dead gangster Vicky Gounder, Palwinder Singh, alias Pinda, whose role had also emerged in the 2016 sensational Nabha jailbreak, is the kingpin of the gang. He was apparently handling the gang with the help of Paramjit, alias Pamma, a native of Shahkot and currently residing in Greece, he said.
The arrested persons are history-sheeters and have been facing criminal cases, murder, attempt to murder, extortion, and arms smuggling, he said, as per an official statement. In addition, six other persons were arrested for harboring and providing logistic support, he said.
Police have also recovered seven .32 bore pistols, three .315 bore pistols, one .315 bore gun, one .12 bore gun, and two SUVs besides foreign currency amounting to Rs 8 lakh in Indian rupee. "Paramjit, alias Pamma, allegedly used to finance the gang and send foreign currency via hawala route to Amarjit, alias Amar, who further used to distribute among the gang members to carry out various criminal activities," he said.
The officer said the gang has been active for the past six years and involved in organized extortion, highway robbery, land mafia, and weapon smuggling from Madhya Pradesh. "With the arrest of this group, police have also been able to crack three blind cases of murder, extortion, and highway robbery," said Swapan Sharma.
