India
Pro-Khalistan extremist Arsh Dalla behind contract killing of Jaswant Singh Gill in Madhya Pradesh | India News – Times of India
Intelligence officers say Arsh Dalla, who is allegedly associated with the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and operated terror modules on behalf of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, is also a designated terrorist who was killed in June last year – likely arrested in the Canadian province of Ontario. in connection with a shooting incident, sources here claimed on Sunday. Recently, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) named Arsh Dalla as one of the ‘Khalistani terrorists’ for whom extradition requests have been made to Canada.
Dalla’s two accomplices – Navjot Singh and Amalpreet Singh, both residents of Barnala, Punjab – who were held in Punjab on Sunday for the murder of Sikh activist Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau in Faridkot last month, appear to be the main gunmen behind the killing on Jaswant Singh Gill. murder in Gwalior on November 7. Their credentials match the evidence collected by Gwalior police from various places after Gill’s murder. The search is on for the main conspirator, identified as Satpal, who is said to be a close aide of Arsh Dalla.
Both gunmen were arrested by the Punjab Police in connection with the killing of Sikh activists during a joint operation by Mohali State Special Operation Cell, Anti-Gangster Task Force and Faridkot Police. Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, confirmed the arrests and said on has arrested. established terrorist Arsh Dalla involved in the murder of Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau in Faridkot.”
During their interrogations, it emerged that the two arrested officers were also involved in the murder of Jaswant Singh Gill, on the instructions of Arsh Dalla. DGP Yadav added, “Investigations reveal that the accused also killed Jaswant Singh Gill on November 7, 2024 in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of Arsh Dalla.” The officers returned to Punjab after Gwalior’s murder and were arrested near Kharar, Mohali. The Punjab Police have recovered two sophisticated weapons from the suspects.
“The two are in judicial custody of the Punjab Police. We will take them into pre-trial detention once their pre-trial detention period is over. The gill murder case has been solved. As suspected, it was a case of revenge and the conspiracy came from Canada,” Yadav told TOI. Navjot Singh and Amalpreet Singh had arrived in Gwalior on the morning of the murder.
The Gwalior police had constituted six special teams and announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for any information leading to the identification and arrest of the gunmen responsible for the murder of Jaswant Singh Gill as they firmly believed that it a case of vengeful murder for a crime he had committed. committed eight years ago. The entire incident, which was captured on nearby CCTV cameras, shows the gunmen killing Jaswant Singh in just 40 seconds.
“We had received CCTV footage with audio confirming that the shooters were not local. Later, we got more evidence like Aadhar cards and other documents from a hotel they had checked into in Tekanpur area,” the SP said. He described the gunmen as looking different, with their tone and accents suggesting they may have been from Punjab. After killing Gill, the attackers immediately fled the scene.
In 2016, Jaswant Singh Gill was involved in the murder of his maternal uncle, Sukhwinder Singh, in a family dispute that resulted in Sukhwinder’s death and serious injuries to his parents. Jaswant, who lived with his uncle’s family, shot Sukhwinder dead in his sleep and later attacked his uncle and aunt. The attack was so sudden that the sole survivor, 13-year-old Harman Kaur, narrowly escaped by hiding in the kitchen. Jaswant fled the scene and was on the run for years. He was eventually captured in 2018 and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his uncle. Sukhwinder’s family, who now lives in Canada, was scanned.
Investigations soon revealed that Sukhwinder Singh’s brother Satpal Singh, a resident of Canada, planned the murder by offering a contract worth Rs 2.5 lakh through Arsh Dalla. Satpal’s in-laws live in Punjab and from there he arranged the shooters. To execute the plan, he took the help of his relative, Jite alias Jite Sardar, of Rai Mastura village, who assisted in the explorations and arrangements in Gwalior. For the contract killing, Rs 1 lakh was transferred to Jite’s account before Jaswant was released on parole, and the remaining Rs 1.5 lakh was sent immediately after the killing.
As of now, Jite Sardar has not been arrested, although the money for the contract killing has been deposited into his account. Around 7pm, Jaswant Singh Gill, 45, was walking outside his house in Gopal Bagh, Dabra, after dinner when he was killed.
A taxi had also been hired from Canada to facilitate the gunmen’s escape after the killing. The taxi driver who dropped the gunmen to Mohali has been arrested to determine whether he was part of the entire conspiracy. It has been revealed that the gunmen, Navjot Singh and Amalpreet Singh, both residents of Barnala, Punjab, had arrived in Gwalior on the morning of the killing. The gunmen rented a room in a hotel in Tekanpur, just outside Dabra. Jite had provided them with a motorcycle and Rs 1 lakh to help in their escape. After committing the murder, the gunmen immediately drove by road to Mohali, Punjab, where they hired a luxury taxi arranged by Satpal Singh in Canada. Police traced the taxi through toll records, which helped them identify Satpal Singh as the person who booked the vehicle.
The breakthrough in the case came from CCTV footage obtained from a resort hotel in Tekanpur, located on the Gwalior-Dabra Road. The gunmen had checked into the hotel on the morning of November 7 and did not return after the murder. When police checked the hotel, they found bags and other belongings belonging to the gunmen. The footage from the hotel matched the footage from the crime scene in Dabra and after identifying the belongings of the gunmen, Gwalior SP Dharamvir Singh shared the findings with the Punjab Police and these matched the suspects who were arrested in the shooting in Faridkoot.
Further investigation revealed that Satpal Singh, his father Rajwinder Singh, mother Balwinder Singh and other family members had visited Gwalior from Canada six months prior to the murder. During this visit, they learned that Jaswant, the man responsible for Sukhwinder’s death, was often released on parole for short periods – two to three times a year. It was at this point that the family decided it was time for revenge. They planned the murder while staying in Punjab, where Satpal’s in-laws live, and arranged the contract killing.
When the gunmen confronted Jaswant, they were ordered to empty an entire magazine into his chest. However, the gun malfunctioned and failed to fire all six shots, resulting in only three shots being fired. Despite this, Jaswant died on the spot.
The police are also investigating a possible local connection. The shooters appeared to be Gills based on witness statements, and police suspect they may have been helped by someone at the scene. Investigators are trying to identify the motorcycle used in the crime, which they believe may have been supplied by a local accomplice. Jaswant, who was released on parole due to his good behavior in prison, lived with his wife and three children in Dabra. He was involved in land deals, having sold his village land and bought property in Siyawari, Datia. On the day of his murder, Jaswant talked to his sharecropper about visiting the farm the next day, but he was shot dead shortly afterwards.
It is noteworthy that Arsh Dallahas been accused of involvement in targeted killings, terrorist financing and extortion in Punjab. He has been accused in several cases that fall under the National Criminal Investigation Department. He is about 27 years old and originally from Dalla village in Moga district of Punjab. Arshdeep lives in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada with his wife and a minor daughter. He has a passport issued by the regional passport office in Jalandhar on September 1, 2017, and valid until August 31, 2027, officers said.
