Here's How Cops Recaptured Khalistan Force Chief Harminder Singh Within 24 Hours Of Jail Break

Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF) chief, Harminder Singh aka Mintoo, who fled Nabha Central Jail on Sunday morning, following a daring jailbreak, was nabbed again from Nizamuddin area by the Delhi Police Special Cell within 24 hours of his escape. He was planning to flee to Mumbai.

PTI

How the entire operation was carried out

The Delhi Police was put on high alert after the sensational jailbreak. The Special Cell 每 anti-terror wing of the city police 每 was also tasked to develop information and apprehend them.

PTI

※An information was received that one of the criminals, identified as Palwinder Singh alias Pinda, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police in Shamli district on Sunday evening. During interrogation, he disclosed that Mintoo and Kashmeer Singh were dropped by him at Kaithal in Haryana from where they might go to Delhi.

"A message was given to all police personnel to be on lookout for any suspicious movement. Photographs of escapees were also shared with all police stations. Cops were deployed on probable hideout areas, checking of guest houses was undertaken and search was conducted at bus terminals, railway stations, etc,§ said Special Cell DCP PS Kushwah.

PTI

He said a team of Special Cell sleuths deployed at Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station noticed that a man wearing Patka 每 head cover generally worn by Sikhs 每 on his head and having his beard trimmed improperly.

※He was looking conscious which raised suspicion. He bought tickets and came outside the building. As he was moving out, he was apprehended by the team deployed there and the pistol he was carrying was snatched,§ said the DCP.

How the escape was planned and executed

According to police, the escape from the high security prison, as confessed by Mintoo, was planned and executed at the instance of his co-inmates Gurpreet Singh Shekhon and Harjinder Singh aka Vicky Gonder. They are members of a criminal gang.

PTI

On the day of incident, all the inmates who escaped on Sunday were out in the open inside the jail premises as a bhandara (common kitchen) was being organized at the Gurudwara inside the jail premises.

As already planned, they reached near the exit gate of the jail at the time when the 14 gunmen dressed in police uniforms stormed the jail in four cars 每 a Toyota Fortuner, a Honda City, a Hyundai I20 and a Hyundai Verna. They opened indiscriminate fire and freed four of their gang members 每 Gurpreet Singh Shekhon, Harjinder Singh @ Vicky Gonder, Kulpreet Singh @ Nitin Deol and Amandeep Singh @ Dhotian.

Police said that Mintoo and Kashmeer Singh, were aware of the jailbreak plan. The duo decided to join them. After having escaped from the jail, Mintoo, and Kashmeer Singh boarded the Toyota Fortuner along with Shekhon and Dhotian.

Shekhon was driving the vehicle. Around 24 km before district Kurukshetra, Mintoo and Kashmeer Singh got down. They were given Rs 19,000 by Shekhon＊s brother Mani. Both of them hid themelves in a sugarcane field for sometime.

PTI

From Kurukshetra, they reached Panipat by bus and then changed another bus to ISBT, Delhi. To avoid apprehension, they moved separately toward Nizamuddin Railway Station with an aim to leave for Goa where Mintoo had lived for 18 years.

Who is KLF chief Mintoo

Mintoo was born in Dalli village of Jalandhar District in April 1967, his family shifted to Goa in 1989.

AP

Mintoo was earlier the member of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). He left BKI in 2009 and revived Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). He used to operate from Thailand and Malaysia before he was arrested by police from IGI airport in 2014.

He was using a fake Malaysian passport and documents to travel. He also allegedly travelled to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to set up a base of the KLF and mobilize funds for the banned pro-freedom Sikh bodies.

He allegedly used to visit Pakistan frequently and there are reports that he had a backing of Pakistan＊s ISI, which is being investigated. He is involved in 12 terror-related cases, including the attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in 2008 and recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force Station near Ludhiana in 2010.