Sena leader among 6 held for kidnapping

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, September 23

The police today arrested a Shiv Sena leader, a murder convict and four other persons for kidnapping after a 30-minute-long chase on the Kahnuwan-Bhaini Mian Khan road today.

SSP Jasdeep Singh said the accused first tried to kidnap Balwinder Singh, who had an affair with the daughter of one of them. However, he managed to flee. The accused then kidnapped his friend, Malkit Singh, from Kahnuwan this morning.

After a call to the police control room, the SHOs of Bhaini Mian Khan, Kahnuwan and Puranashala police stations were told to chase the kidnappers’ car in their Gypsies.

After an exchange of fire, they arrested six persons, including Jatinder Singh, vice-president of the Gurdaspur Shiv Sena (rural), and Manjinder Singh, a murder convict who was out on parole. Three other kidnappers, who were riding a motorcycle, escaped.

Another false alarm 

Rumours about the presence of terrorists spread after the villagers, particularly those living near the Tibri cantonment, saw police cars tailing the kidnappers’ car. On January 4, two days after the Pathankot air base attack, the army, CRPF and the Punjab Police had cordoned off the cantonment area after reports that terrorists were hiding in fields. In both cases, it turned out to be a false alarm.