Chandigarh, Sep 13 (IANS) In a major breakthrough, a joint team of the Punjab Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) and Ludhiana Commissionerate Police on Sunday averted a shooting bid and neutralised two armed operatives belonging to the Doni Bal gang during an encounter near Atam Park in Ludhiana.

Ludhiana Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma has identified the deceased assailants as Karanjot Singh, alias Nona, and Sandeep Singh, both residents of Amritsar.

Police teams have recovered three sophisticated automatic pistols along with around 50 cartridges from their possession.

Sharing operation details, Sharma said that acting on precise intelligence inputs regarding a planned attack, joint teams laid a special checkpoint at the Under Bridge near Atam Park and intercepted two suspects approaching on a black-coloured motorcycle without a registration number.

Upon being signalled to stop, the assailants attempted to flee and opened indiscriminate fire at the police personnel, he added.

“During the chase, the assailants continuously fired multiple shots at the joint police party, and two bullets hit the official police vehicle. Exercising retaliatory fire in self-defence, the police team neutralised both armed attackers on the spot,” he said.

Sharma added that preliminary investigations showed the neutralised assailants were directly in touch with gangsters Doni Bal and Shaganpreet Singh, and were tasked with orchestrating a mass shooting at a blood donation camp, organised at Marryland Palace on Dugri Road in Ludhiana on Sunday.

Sharing the criminal antecedents of the deceased, the Ludhiana Commissioner of Police said that Karanjot Singh was a history-sheeter facing two previous criminal cases registered under the Arms Act, Robbery, and the NDPS Act.

The second deceased, Sandeep Singh, was facing one criminal case.

He said that more accomplices are being traced and will be nabbed soon.

A case was registered under Sections 109, 221, 132, 62 and 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 25 of the Arms Act in Ludhiana.

–IANS

vg/khz