Buttar Among Five Hardcore Criminals Arrested After Encounter In Kharar

Kharar : In a major breakthrough, the Organized Crime Control Unit (OCCU) of the Punjab Police on Friday arrested five hardcore criminals and seized weapons from their possession after a brief encounter, which left one of the wanted criminals, John Buttar injured, in Sunny Enclave, Kharar.According to Punjab DGP, Dinkar Gupta, besides two 9 mm pistols, a .30 bore, a 32 bore and two .315 bore pistols and 20 cartridges of different calibre were recovered from them. Gupta said Buttar was wanted in over 18 criminal cases of murder, attempt to murder, dacoity and extortion and was , a proclaimed offender. Gupta said the police had to resort to retaliatory firing after the suspects, who were hiding in Sunny Enclave, opened fire at the OCCU’s raiding team. Buttar, who is the key accused in the killing of gangster Kuldeep Singh @ Keepa, was injured in the retaliatory firing and was admitted to hospital. No policeman sustained any injuries. Gupta said a special operation team, led by AIG OCC Gurmeet Chauhan, raided the hide out of the suspects in Sunny Enclave after a tip off. Cornered, the suspects tried to flee and opened fire at the police party but were overpowered soon.A FIR has was registered at PS Sadar, Kharar, Mohali u/s 307, 353, 186, 120B IPC and 25 Arms Act against the 5 arrested criminals. The arrested accused have been identified as Navdeep Singh @ John Buttar s/o Tek Singh, r/o Buttar Kalan, Moga; Kulwinder @ Kinda s/o Baldev Singh r/o Buttar Kalan, Moga; Amritpal Singh s/o Jarnail Singh r/o Manupur, Samrala, Khanna; Palwinder Singh @ Pinda s/o Darshan Singh r/o Buttar Kalan, Moga and Amrik Singh @ Angrez Singh s/o Madan Lal r/o Lopon, Samrala, Khanna. Gupta said that Buttar is also the main accused in the firing incident on the associates of Shinder Singh, Ex Sarpanch. He had also uploaded videos on Facebook claiming responsibility for the same and had warned Ex Sarpanch Shinder Singh of dire consequences. Palwinder Singh @ Pinda is also a proclaimed offender in a murder case of gangster Kuldeep Singh @ Keepa registered at PS Badni Kalan, Moga. Amrik Singh has narcotics and liquor smuggling cases registered against him. Similarly, Amritpal Singh has previously been booked in liquor smuggling cases, the DGP added.