DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

A man facing several criminal cases, including the murder of a village sarpanch, was arrested in a joint operation of the Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force and the Tarn Taran police, a top officer said on Monday. The arrested accused has been identified as Sukhbir Singh alias Sukh, a resident of Barwala in Tarn Taran, Director General of Police Gauarv Yadav said.

Singh is the prime accused in the murder of Bachittar Singh alias Bikkar, a sarpanch who was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants in the Naushera Pannuan village of Tarn Taran last September. He is a habitual offender with a criminal history of violations of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Arms Act. He was also involved in snatching incidents, Yadav said.

Further investigation is underway to identify his associates and unearth the full extent of his criminal activities, he added.

Additional Director General of Police (Anti-Gangster Task Force) Promod Ban said Anti-Gangster Task Force teams under the supervision of Assistant Inspector General Sandeep Goel and the Tarn Taran police led by Senior Superintendent of Police Abhimanyu Rana had been pursuing the culprit involved in the murder case.

Following human and intelligence inputs, they found his location in the Pahuwind area of Tarn Taran. Acting swiftly, the joint teams followed the trail of the accused and managed to apprehend him near Gurdwara Sahib at Pahuwind village, Goel said.

(editor@dailyworld.in)