2 dreaded gangsters from Punjab gunned down in Kolkata encounter

Kolkata, June 09: Two Punjab-based most-wanted criminals were on Wednesday gunned down in a shootout with the Police Special Task Force (STF) at a residential complex in New Town in Kolkata, West Bengal.

"We had info that some criminals were staying here. When we came for raid, we found Jaspreet and Jaipal, who are wanted in several cases in Punjab. We tried to arrest them but they resisted and fired at us. In retaliation, we also fired and they were shot dead," VK Goyal, ADG, Bengal STF told reporters.

"An inspector has been hospitalised after being injured. Both (Jaspreet & Jaipal) had bounty of Rs 10 lakhs & Rs 5 lakhs respectively and were involved in many cases incl murder & bank robbery. Rs 7 lakh cash, 5 weapons, 89 live rounds of ammunition seized," he added.

The two, who were wanted in a number of murder and robbery cases in Punjab, were also involved in an inter-state arms racket. Arms and ammunition were found stacked in a flat where they were staying since May 22, an official said. The deceased gangsters Jaipal Singh Bhullar and Jaspreet Singh were carrying rewards of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 5 lakh respectively on their heads.

After getting information from various state agencies about their presence in the flat, members of the STF team raided the building in a housing complex. When they were in the staircase, the two started firing.

"We wanted to arrest them and asked them to surrender. But as they started firing, we had to fire in self-defence," Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of the state STF Vineet Goel told reporters.

The Punjab Police had earlier informed the Bengal police about the two, but no representative of that force was present during the raid, Goel said.

Several rounds of fire were shot during the operation, the STF official said.

He said that Rs seven lakh in cash, several firearms including 9 mm pistols and 89 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the flat.

"They were dreaded criminals and had rewards on their heads," Goel said.

They have been supplying arms and ammunition to criminals of West Bengal for some time, a police official said.

Personnel of the Kolkata Police and the Bidhannagar Police were also involved in the operation.