Kolkata: Two out of four Punjab's most wanted gangsters, who had killed police in Ludhiana and took shelter in West Bengal, were killed in Kolkata in a police encounter.
After 15 minutes of encounter and 35 rounds of shootout Jaipal Singh Bhullar and Jaspreet Singh, residents of Ferozpur were killed by Special Task Force (STF) Kolkata.
According to STF, the two most-wanted Punjab-based criminals took shelter in a residential complex in the New Town area near Kolkata.
Notably, after a criminal was arrested by the STF in Birbhum, the STF kept watch on the two criminals at the residential complex and on Wednesday afternoon they tried to enter the flat in Block B where the two criminals were putting up.
According to STF ADG Vineet Goyal no sooner did the STF raid the flat than the miscreants started firing and a police officer Karthik Mohan Ghosh sustained serious bullet injuries and was shifted to a nearby private hospital.
According to Goyal, the two criminals, one from the living room and other from the bedroom, started firing at the police and after several attempts the duo were shot dead.
“After the two died our officers tried to break open the flat and nine sophisticated firearms along with 89 active rounds of bullets were found in the flat. Cash of seven lakh rupees are also recovered as the two were about to strike a deal on firearms,” mentioned Goyal.
Goyal also added that Jaypal’s father is a retired policeman in Punjab and right from a very young age Jaipal had a crime history and loot, extortion, kidnapping, drug dealing were very common for him.
Goyal also confirmed that not just in Punjab, the two criminals were also wanted in Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for over 40 cases related to robbery, loot, kidnapping and even murder.
According to Punjab police officials, the Punjab police had declared a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on Jaipal and 5 lakh on Jaspreet and also coordinated with the Kolkata police after they got to know that the criminals took shelter in Kolkata.
However, STF ADG said that the shootout was done by STF and Kolkata police. Teams of CID and bomb disposal are also present at the spot and investigated inside the flat.
According to the residents of the complex, they were not aware that the two people living in their complex were criminals and also that they are now in a fix as according to Kolkata police there was a third person with the two criminals who is missing.
“Suddenly there were sounds of firing and we saw police with AK 47 running here and there and then we were told that the two dead were criminals and another criminal is missing. We will have to live in fear and tension as the missing person can also be dangerous,” mentioned a resident.
However, till the time of reporting, the injured officer is stable, claimed the hospital sources.
“There are three bullet marks on the body of the officer. Two marks on his left hand and one at his back. After conducting a CT Scan it is assumed that there are no bullets inside his body. Hard steps are being taken to stop the blood loss and so far he is stable,” mentioned the sources of AMRI Salt Lake.
