Punjab police arrests two dreaded gangsters of kaushal-bambiha gang after brief encounter in jalandhar; two pistols recovered

In a major action by the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police amidst the ongoing fight against organised crime, two dreaded gangsters of Kaushal-Bambiha gang sustained critical injuries while unsuccessfully attempting to escape from the police custody at the outskirts of Jalandhar Cantonment and recovered two pistols along with five live cartridges from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.

Both the gangsters identified as Rajeshwar Kumar and Deepak Vaid alias Babu were arrested by the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police on Tuesday, after their name cropped up during follow-up investigations in the Arms Act case regitered at Police Station Bhargo Camp on October 17, 2024. As per the information, Police teams had arrested four members of this Kaushal-Bambiha module and recovered four weapons from their possession. With the arrest of these two gangsters, the total arrests in this case reaches six.

“Police officers have displayed remarkable endurance by chasing and arresting gangsters Rajeshwar Kumar and Deepak Vaid on foot for at least 1.5 kilometers,” said the DGP. 

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that both the accused persons were involved in multiple heinous crimes and were also conspiring major crimes in districts including Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar, Kapurthala and other districts. The accused persons were also providing logistical assistance to other gang members and supplying weapons to different gangs in Punjab and Haryana, he said. 

The DGP said that further investigation are on to establish backward and forward linkages in this case.

Sharing more details, Commissioner of Police (CP) Jalandhar Swapan Sharma said that following disclosures of accused gangsters Rajeshwar Kumar and Deepak Vaid, Police teams from the Jalandhar Commissionerate were taking both the accused persons to the secluded place at the outskirts of the Jalandhar Contonment, where they claimed to have concealed arms and ammunition. 

Upon reaching the location, both the accused persons managed to run from the spot by opening fire at the police party using the pistol retrieved from the spot, he said, while adding that, acting promptly, police teams opened retaliatory fire to stop them and managed to apprehend them after giving them a 1.5 kilometres foot chase. During the operation, one of the accused persons sustained buller injury on his right leg, while other one sustained injuries during manhandling with the police teams.

The CP said that both the accused persons have criminal history with several criminal cases pertaining to Arms Act, NDPS Act, attempt to murder, etc registered against them. With recovery of two more pistols from the spot, a total of six weapons have been recovered from this module so far, he said, while adding that more arrests and recoveries are expected in coming days.