In extortion bid, Bathinda bizman shot at

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, September 7

Two armed men allegedly opened fire at a city-based businessman, Rajinder Mangla, for failing to pay Rs 20 lakh extortion money to a Kotkapura-based gangster.

Gangster arrested

• The Sangrur Crime Investigations Agency claims to have arrested a gangster from Sunam area and seized weapons and live cartridges
• SSP Swapan Sharma said gangster Jaspreet Babbi was allegedly in touch with members of the Ajaib Khan gang, who are currently lodged in the Sangrur jail
• “The accused hatched a conspiracy to eliminate rivals Mani Sheron and Feteh Nagri, who have several criminal cases against them,” he said

Sources said Goldy Brar had allegedly demanded the money on behalf of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang from the owner of Mangalam Flex. Brar had threatened to kill him if the ransom was not paid.

As per information, two suspects on a motorcycle came to Mangla’s house on Sunday night and tried to set the main gate on fire using petrol. They later fired three shots at the businessman. Mangla saved his life by diving to the ground. The two later fled the scene, after which the police were informed. A team of the Thermal police station and CIA 1 reached the spot and started investigation. The incident was captured on the CCTV cameras installed at the house. Mangla claimed he had been receiving threat calls from the gangster for the past few days.

Mangla also accused Chinki, a resident of Calcutta Wali Gali on the Amrik Singh Road, of passing on information about him to the gangster. As per sources, Brar had been making extortion demands on behalf of the Bishnoi gang. Earlier, the name of the gang had cropped up in a case involving extortion call from inside the jail. Thermal police station SHO Balwinder Singh said they had registered a case on Mangla’s complaint and the CIA-1 team was probing the matter.