Notorious criminal’s arrest unearths murder, victim’s body found

Chandigarh: Acting on a tip-off about a hardcore criminal's involvement in a murder somewhere in the Tricity, Chandigarh police in a joint operation with Mohali counterparts finally arrested the history-sheeter and his aide after an extensive search from a house in Badmajra, Mohali. A few hours after the arrest, UT police also found the body of the murder victim from Sector 23 in Chandigarh.The hardcore criminal, Gagandeep Singh, alias Gagan, was arrested for the murder of 28-year-old Kashish of Sector 23 in his house. Sources said the victim had a bullet injury on his face. Police said the exact cause of death would be known only after the autopsy.The murder took place two days back, but the residents on the first and ground floors were unaware of the murder. UT police will now obtain a production warrant of Gagan and interrogate him to determine the motive behind the crime.On a tip-off, the police teams of UT and Mohali surrounded the house where Gagan was hiding. When Gagan noticed the police, he fired at them; however, no one was hurt. The police then overpowered Gagan and arrested him along with his accomplice, Kashish, a resident of Nayagaon.During the preliminary inquiry, the police found that Gagan and Kashish were involved in the murder of another person, Kashish, in his Sector 23 house.Police also claimed to have recovered a Glock pistol and two bullets from Gagan. Police suspect the accused got the pistol from across the border.SSP Kanwardeep Kaur said the police received a tip-off that Gagan had murdered a person in the city. On this information, police identified the house in Sector 23 and found Kashish's body on the top floor of the house around 3pm.However, before that, the police had already arrested Gagan, and he also confessed to murdering a person in the city before the police.Later, a case of attempt to murder was registered against Gagan and Kashish at Balongi police station in Mohali, and both accused were handed over to Mohali police.The UT police also interrogated Gaurav, the victim's brother, who revealed that his cousin Money had taken the top floor of the house, but he was in jail in an NDPS case, so the accommodation was vacant. Further, Gaurav said his brother had been missing for the past 2-3 days. The victim also had cases against him under the NDPS Act, cops said.Sector 17 police has kept the body at the mortuary in GMSH 16 for autopsy, to be conducted on Saturday.Gagan already has 21 cases filed against him for murder, attempt to murder, under Arms Act, and NDPS. He was out on bail, police said.