NIA arrests main shooter in Mohali's Punjab police HQ attack; abroad connections emerge

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested Deepak Ranga, the main shooter in the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack that was carried out at the Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali in May 2022.

The shooter was absconding since the police station was targeted and was finally arrested from UP's Gorakhpur Wednesday morning. Hailing from Haryana's Jhajjar, Ranga is a close associate of Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa and Pakistan-based gangster Harvinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda. 

While Landa is currently in Canada and wanted for a separate RPG attack on the Sarhali Police Station in Punjab's Tarn Taran district in Punjab, Rinda was found dead at a hospital in Lahore in December 2022. Meanwhile, Ranga was on the police's scanner for his involvement in a number of other violent terrorist and criminal offences, including violent killings before the RPG attack.  

Ranga's role in terror activities

Apart from being the main shooter in the Mohali RPG attack, he actively received terror funds and logistical support from Rinda and Landa, according to sources. The NIA registered the case suo moto on September 20 last year after it emerged that terrorist outfits and terror elements based abroad were operating in tandem with leaders and members of organised criminal gangs operating in northern India to perform targeted killings and violent criminal acts.

It had also emerged that the terror-gangster-drug smuggler network was engaged in smuggling arms, ammunition explosives, and IEDs across the border through a widespread inter-state network of gun runners, illegal arms and ammunition manufacturers and suppliers and explosive traffickers. So far, the NIA has arrested 19 leaders and members of several organised criminal gangs, two arms suppliers, and one financier under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. 

Earlier in late December, the Punjab Police announced busting a "sub-module" of Landa with the arrest of three men and also recovered a loaded rocket-propelled grenade launcher. The arrested persons were identified as Kulbir Singh, Hira Singh, and Davinder Singh, all residents of Tarn Taran's Chambal village. Prior to this, five persons were arrested and two juveniles were detained for allegedly carrying out the attack at the Sarhali police station.