The arrest of dreaded gangster Sukhpreet Singh alias Budda has led to the nabbing of 15 of his associates, along with the seizure of weapons, drugs and foreign currency, police said on Monday.
The Punjab Police had taken Budda into custody at the Delhi airport on November 23 after he was deported from Armenia.
"The arrest and deportation of Budda is a big achievement for the Punjab Police. He was the most active gangster of Punjab during the last two years. Budda and his associates had spread terror among the Punjabi music and film industry.
"With his arrest and the arrest of 15 of his criminal associates, the perpetrators of 10 cases of murder, extortion, car-jacking and snatching have been identified and arrested so far," Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta said in a statement here.
"Four new FIRs have also been registered against Budda's associates for criminal activities, based on the disclosures made by Budda and his associates. Further investigations are in progress," he said.
Among those arrested include a retired deputy passport officer, who was posted at Chandigarh during 2007-08, Gupta said.
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He had allegedly received Rs 50,000 from one person to prepare his Indian passport on a fake name and address and to deliver it by hand to him, the DGP added.
Gupta said Budda had been trying to get into the US illegally from Armenia at the time of his detention.
"Since Budda fled Punjab in April 2018 to the UAE after an attack on singer Parmish Verma, he travelled to many countries, including the UAE, China, Iran, Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Georgia and Singapore. However, the Punjab Police was tracking his movements during his visit and stay in different countries," he said.
"The Punjab Police is now trying to identify his contacts in these countries," the DGP said.
Police teams from various districts, including Ludhiana, Moga, Faridkot, Khanna, Mohali and Amritsar, are working on further leads, obtained during the course of investigation, under the supervision of the Organized Crime Control Unit of the Punjab Police, he added.
Giving details of the seizures made on the basis of Budda's interrogation, the DGP said six weapons including one carbine, one bulletproof jacket, 3 kg opium, seven vehicles, ammunition and a cash of Rs 13.80 lakh and USD 1,700 was recovered from him and his associates.
Budda, a resident of Kussa village of Moga district, was tracked down in Armenia and was detained on the basis of a Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued by Interpol and later efforts were made to secure his deportation, Gupta said.
Consequently, he was arrested from the IGI Airport, Delhi, by the Punjab Police on November 23, the DGP said.
Budda did not report back to Faridkot Jail after availing parole nearly four years ago in a murder case in Bathinda district, in which he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
After jumping the parole, he, along with his associates, allegedly murdered two persons at a farmhouse in Chautala village in Haryana in January 2017 and another person at his rice mill in Faridkot in April 2018.
On April 14, 2018, Budda allegedly fired at singer Verma after the latter refused to pay an extortion amount of Rs 20 lakh. Subsequently, Budda flew to Dubai via Nepal, and started coordinating and operating criminal activities of making ransom calls, extortions and murders from there, the DGP said.
Investigations have revealed that while in Dubai, three more murders were committed on his directions by his associates in Punjab, Gupta said.
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