Updated on: 27 February 2023 02:30 PM IST | Mumbai
S S Nadar: Editor | news@debotimes.in

Both accused who chopped off Mohali youth’s fingers aged less than 26; took shelter in Himachal with help of aides; sent to eight-day police custody by the court

A day after the CIA staff of Mohali police nabbed two of the three accused who brutally chopped off the fingers of a 24-year-old youth in Barmajra village, Balongi, on February 8, a police investigation found that all three accused had fled to Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh after the crime. According to police, before their arrest on Saturday, the accused had been hiding in a rented accommodation in Kala Amb, nearly 80 km from Barmajra, with the help of their aides in the hill state.

Police teams are now on the trail of the third accused and those who harboured them.

“We are very close to arresting the third accused, Yadwinder Singh, alias Ghoda, of Kharar. Police teams are using all technical and manual support to nab him. We have also identified their accomplices who helped them get shelter in Kala Amb. They will also be nabbed soon,” said a senior police official, privy to the probe.

On Saturday, police had nabbed two of the accused — identified as Gaurav Sharma, alias Gauri, 25, of Barmajra and Tarun, 24, of Patiala — following a long chase that ended at Shambu toll plaza near Rajpura. Both are members of the Bhupi Rana gang.

According to sources, their phone numbers, along with those of their kin and aides, were on surveillance which helped police trace them to Kala Amb.

What followed was a dramatic 55-km chase as the accused tried to flee towards Rajpura via Ambala. The CIA team eventually caught up with them near the Shambu toll plaza, where the accused were trapped amid the queued-up vehicles.

Cornered, they opened fire at the CIA team that fired back at the tyres of their car to stop them, Mohali SSP Sandeep Garg said.

Amid the melee, Gaurav suffered a bullet injury on the left thigh that police claimed was caused by his own weapon.

Both accused were taken to a hospital in Banur. They were further referred to the Mohali civil hospital in Phase 6.

Police have recovered the Maruti Swift car used in the February 8 attack, besides a .9mm pistol, along with three bullet shells and a live cartridge from their possession.

The two accused were produced before a local court that sent them to eight-day police remand for further interrogation.

Chopped off driver’s fingers to avenge brother’s murder

According to police, Gaurav has been out for blood since the murder of his brother Bunty Sharma in Barmajra on August 16, 2022.

Bunty, a small-time money lender, was out to rescue a friend from some assailants, when he, too, was attacked with swords and bricks, leading to his death.

Gaurav is facing three criminal cases, including those of attempt to murder, assault and drugs, registered at Balongi station, apart from another in Chandigarh, all aimed at avenging his brother’s murder.

According to police, he was released on bail from Ambala jail just a few days before the crime.

In pursuance of vengeance, on February 8, he, along with his two accomplices, approached Hardip, who works as a driver, near his house in Barmajra to trace his brother’s killers.

Claiming to be staff from the police’s CIA, they led him to a car, before forcibly taking him to a forest in Barmajra.

There, they beat up Hardip to reveal information about the men behind the murder of Gaurav’s brother. As he refused, one of the three men restrained him and another started filming, while the third chopped off his finger with a sharp-edged weapon, before fleeing in their car with his mobile phone.

Hardip underwent surgery for reattachment of the fingers at PGIMER, but it remained unsuccessful due to infection. Left disabled, Hardip said his family is terrified of more attacks on them.