Gangster Tinu’s escape: Charges framed against sacked Mansa CIA in-charge, nine others

Nearly two years after the escape of gangster Deepak, alias Tinu, an accused in the Sidhu Moose Wala murder case, from the custody of the crime investigation agency (CIA) of Mansa police on October 1, 2022, the district court has framed charges against 10 persons, including the then in-charge of CIA, Mansa, sub-inspector Pritpal Singh.

Mansa judicial magistrate on Tuesday ordered that charges be framed under Sections 222 (intentional omission to apprehend on the part of public servant bound to apprehend person under sentence or lawfully committed), 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension), 225 A (omission to apprehend, or sufferance of escape, on part of public servant...) 216 (harbouring offender) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 25 of the Arms Act against sacked SI Pritpal Singh, Deepak Tinu, Jatinder Kaur, alias Jyoti, Kuldeep Singh Kohli, Rajvir Kajama, Rajinder Singh, alias Gora, Bittu, Sarabjot Singh, Chirag and Sunil Kumar Lohia.

Discharge plea dismissed

The court also issued non-bailable arrest warrants against Sarabjot, who is out on bail but skipped hearings and dismissed the application filed by Kohli seeking discharge. The court will start hearing the prosecution evidence on September 5.

Dismissing the bail application of Pritpal in July, the Punjab and Haryana high court had directed the trial court to conclude the trial within six months.

After Tinu escaped, the Punjab Police arrested and sacked unit in-charge Pritpal Singh, who was also a member of the SIT probing the singer’s murder case. Police claimed Pritpal was part of the conspiracy hatched for Tinu’s escape. Tinu was rearrested by the Delhi Police along with weapons from Ajmer in Rajasthan on October 19. Later, Punjab Police brought him on transit remand from Delhi.

In December 2022, Mansa police had filed a chargesheet against 10 accused. The chargesheet claimed that Pritpal had taken Tinu to his official residence in the district administration’s housing complex in Mansa city in a private car. “Tinu had escaped from his residence with the help of the other accused,” it added.

On July 4, 2022, the Punjab Police had brought Tinu on transit remand from the Tihar jail in the Moose Wala murder case. Later, he was brought on production warrants twice each in old cases registered in connection with criminal incidents at Bohrawala and Bahadurpur. On September 27, Tinu was again brought on production warrants from Goindwal Sahib Jail in a murder case registered at Sardulgarh police station. However, he fled from custody after four days. The SIT said in the chargesheet that Tinu was brought on remand and kept at the CIA police station on purpose by Pritpal.

Tinu was among the 32 accused chargesheeted in the Moose Wala murder case. According to the chargesheet, Tinu is an aide of gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria. Tinu is facing 35 criminal cases, including that of murder, in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Delhi. Tinu was instrumental in connecting Bishnoi with gangster Goldy Brar, believed to be in Canada at that time, through mobile phones for planning and executing Moose Wala’s murder,” police said in the chargesheet.