Nabha – In a shocking incident, 10 armed men dressed up as police officials broke into Nabha jail in Punjab’s Patiala, fired over 100 rounds and fled with Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh alias Mintoo and five other inmates on Sunday morning.
The five others have been identified as Kashmir Singh, Amandeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, Vicky Gondar and Neeta Deol.
The 10 men who carried out the Nabha jailbreak Sunday were hoping to free just four of their gang members but Khalistan Liberation Force Cheif Harminder Singh Mintoo and Kashmir Singh, accused in the shooting of a Shiv Sena leader, decided to join the group after coming to know of the escape plan.
The alleged “mastermind” of the daring daylight jailbreak, Parminder Singh, was arrested from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district when the getaway vehicle–a Toyota Fortuner–was stopped at a police picket. A self-loading rifle (SLR), three rifles and several rounds of ammunition were recovered from the SUV during the search, UP’s Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljit Singh Chaudhary said.
According to Uttar Pradesh Police, this is what one of the 10, Parminder Singh Pinda, who was nabbed late on Sunday in Shamli, disclosed during interrogation. Mintoo and Singh escaped along with Vicky Gounder and other members of his gang, tipped off about jailbreak, militant tagged along Gurpreet Sekhon, Amandeep Dhotian and Kulpreet Singh aka Neeta Deol.
“Parminder told us that the plan was only to get the gangsters freed. But Gurpreet Sekhon had told Mintoo that they would escape on Sunday. Mintoo was keeping a watch and joined them in the jail corridor,” Daljit Singh Chaudhary, UP ADGP (Law and Order), told media.
Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal suspended Nabha Jail DG and set up a special task force to track down the escaped convicts. The Home Ministry sought a report from the state government over the incident.
According to police, six to eight persons in police uniforms came on four vehicles Toyota Fortuner (white color) Hyundai Verna (white), Honda City (white) and Hyundai i20 (beige color) and fired several shots before escaping with the six inmates.
Jail Superintendent and Deputy Dismissed: Punjab Deputy CM
The superintendent and the deputy superintendent of the jail were dismissed after the Punjab jailbreak incident, Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said.
He said that a special task force under the intelligence department will be set up to track the criminals.
He also added that the Deputy General of Police of the jail was suspended.