How Moga youth turned to crime

Kulwinder Sandhu

Tribune News Service

Moga, September 9

Devinder Singh Bambiha, killed in an encounter with the special task force of the state police at Rampura Phul in Bathinda district today, entered the world of crime in 2009-2010 just after passing clearing his class XII exam from Bambiha Bhai village in Moga district.

An avid fan of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, he was last seen by his fellow villagers in 2010. He hardly visited his family during these years. For the past few months, he was on the run.

His father died in 2002 while he was only 10. His mother Paramjit Kaur struggled to bring him up with earnings from a small landholding along with his two sisters, who are now married. His paternal uncle Nirmal Singh helped a lot in the school education of Devinder and his sisters.

On November 22, 2010, Devinder and his friend Amrik Singh shot dead one of their friends Harpreet Singh and injured another Navdeep Singh near Samalsar in Baghapurana subdivision over a tiff. That was the first instance that changed Devinder’s course of life for ever. He killed Maninder Singh and his uncle Sukhpal Singh in the Sewewala village in March 2014. On June 11, 2014, he was arrested from Ludhiana by the Faridkot police. At that time, he was allegedly accused in 10 criminal cases, including four cases of murder and three attempt-to-murder cases. Lodged in Faridkot jail, he had a clash with some gangsters and hit one of them on the head with a brick. A few days after that incident, he managed to flee from the Faridkot jail. However, he was re-arrested. In January 2015, while being taken to the Ludhiana central jail from Muktsar, he fled from custody. On February 20, 2016, Bambiha gunned down Khwajke village sarpanch Ravi Khwajke at a marriage function in Ludhiana. On August 9, 2016, Devinder, along with Gaurav Kumar (alias Goru Bachha), went to Tarn Taran to eliminate some members of a rival gang. Devinder’s close aide Dilbagh Singh was killed in a fierce fight between Rayya and Bath villages. Davinder managed to flee. The STF had been after him since then.