Farmers Movement Archive

Three arrested for murder of Youth Congress president in Punjab

NEW DELHI: Three people have been arrested by Delhi Police’s Special Cell for their alleged involvement in the murder of Youth Congress president Gurlal Singh Bhalwan. A day after the civic body election results on February 18, the shooters had shot dead Bhalwan (35) in Faridkot, Punjab The accused have been identified as Gurvinder Pal, Sukhvinder Dhillon and Saurabh Verma, all locals of Faridkot. The murder, police said, was orchestrated by Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar. His associate and jailed gangster Lawrence Vishnoi executed his orders. DCP Manishi Chandra said that it was revenge killing over the murder of Brar’s cousin, Gurlal Brar. “Gurlal, former state president of Student Organization of Punjab University (SOPU), was murdered in October 2020. Brar, through his henchmen, first eliminated gangster Rana Sidhu, who was shot 15 times, and then targeted Bhalwan who they suspected of supporting the rival Bhambhia gang,” the DCP said. Police said that the gang planned to kill Bhalwan on February 5 at Singhu border, but he was surrounded by protesters. The shooters then followed him to Jantar Mantar and tried to take him down there but Delhi Police happened to detain him briefly for protesting illegally. However, the shooters kept following him to different places. On February 18, the shooters shot dead Gurlal Singh, while he was about to get into his vehicle after coming out a from a friend’s shop at Faridkot’s Jubilee Chowk. The men also shot Bhalwan about a dozen times before escaping on a motorcycle kept ready by their associates. Bhalwan’s murder had caused ripples in Punjab and the state’s chief minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, had expressed his shock in a tweet. The three men were arrested from southeast Delhi’s Sarai Kale Khan when they were trying to flee to Uttar Pradesh. Accused Pal is a relative of the Brar cousins. The cops said that Dhillon and Verma are direct underlings of Vishnoi, while the two other absconding accused came through Kala Jathedi. All these accused were provided shelter in a flat at Landar Road, Chandigarh. After the murder, the accused were picked-up by Pal at the outskirts of Faridkot in a Hyundai Verna. From there, they drove to Salasar, Rajasthan and then to Jhajjar, Haryana the next day. Vishnoi, through Brar, instructed that the shooters should part ways and accordingly, the two booked a cab for Bahadurgarh Metro Station, leaving behind Pal, Dhillon and Verma, who traveled to Delhi en route to Uttar Pradesh where they were intercepted.

The Times of India

2021-02-22

Delhi