Ludhiana: Gangster Landa’s aide arrested after encounter

A member of gangster Lakhbir Singh Landa, alias Landa Harike, was arrested after an exchange of fire near Sahibana village during early morning action on Thursday, police said. Identified as Sumit, the accused was critically injured and rushed to a hospital. He was wanted for opening fire at the house of gangster Puneet Bains in Janakpuri on April 20, officials said.

The police recovered an illegal weapon, one bullet and a scooter from his possession. After the encounter, commissioner of police Swapan Sharma, along with a police team, reached the spot. He stated that three accused — Lovekush, Vansh and Akshay — involved in the firing at the house of Puneet Bains had been arrested on April 29. Following the information provided by them, a trap was laid for the arrest of Sumit.

“The accused was passing through the area riding a scooter when the police asked him to stop. The accused opened fire targeting the police team. When police retaliated, the accused was hit with a bullet. He was immediately rushed to a hospital,” said the commissioner of police. “The accused fired at least four bullets targeting policemen. He has been already facing trial in several criminal cases,” he added.

Further, the police commissioner added that the arrested accused were close aides of Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa, and one of the accused had been directly in touch with Landa. A hunt is on for the arrest of the rest of the accused.

On April 20, six masked men opened fire at the house of gangster Puneet Bains in the labour colony of Janakpuri. The assailants, who came on two motorcycles, fired several rounds at around 3:30 am before fleeing the scene. The incident was captured on CCTV footage installed at the residence.

At the time of the attack, only Bains’ mother and sister were present in the house. The division number 2 police had lodged an FIR against an unidentified accused and initiated investigation. Bains, who is currently out on bail, has been absconding since an FIR was lodged against him and his rival following a recent scuffle in the Ludhiana courts complex.

Gangster Lakhbir Singh Landa has been reportedly hiding in Canada. He has been allegedly involved in making extortion calls to businessmen in Punjab. In a recent case, an unidentified caller posing as an aide of Landa demanded ₹5 crore from a builder and threatened him with a grenade attack. A case was registered against the unidentified accused at the Sarabha Nagar police station.