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New Delhi: In a major breakthrough, Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, who escaped from Nabha jail in Punjab on Sunday, was arrested on Monday.
The Khalistani terrorist was arrested in a joint operation by the Punjab Police and the Special Crime Branch of the Delhi Police today morning.
Harminder Mintoo and five others escaped from Nabha jail in Punjab yesterday after armed men in police uniform tricked the sentries into opening the gates and bolted out with the inmates firing a hail of bullets.
The arrest comes after security agencies launched a massive manhunt to nab the six high-profile prisoners, including two terrorists and four gangsters.
Among the escapees was another terrorist Kashmira Singh, according to Punjab police chief Suresh Arora.
The alleged “mastermind” of the daring daylight jailbreak, Parminder Singh, was arrested just hours after from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district when the getaway vehicle–a Toyota Fortuner–was stopped at a police picket.
Meanwhile, gangster Gurpreet Singh Lehmber and his aides, who had escaped from the Nabha Jail after the attack, have also been arrested by Police in Jalandhar.
How terrorists, gangsters fled from Nabha Jail
Six criminals, including Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, Kashmir Singh (both terrorists) and dreaded gangsters Gurpreet Singh Lehmber, Vicky Gounder, Amandeep Dhotian and Neeta Deol, had escaped from the Nabha Jail after the attack.
The attackers, dressed in police uniform, breached the tight security of the prison around 9 am. Witnesses said the attackers fired at least 100 rounds during a well-planned and executed attack that lasted barely 10 minutes.
Punjab DGP Suresh Arora admitted that the incident was a case of “mistaken identity”. DGP Arora admitted that “conspiracy”, “connivance” and “lapses” led to the incident.
With Punjab going to polls early next year, the opposition Congress said the incident exposed the “complete breakdown of law and order” in the state and triggered fears of revival of terrorism ahead of Assembly elections.
