Two shooters of Canada-based gangster-turned terrorist Arsh Dalla's gang, who were allegedly involved in a Sikh activist's murder last month, have been arrested from Kharar in Mohali, a top Punjab police officer said on Sunday.
The accused were also allegedly involved in the recent murder of another person in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior.
The duo were planning to target more individuals, another senior officer said, adding that at least four target killings of prominent persons in major cities have been averted with their arrest.
Director general of police Gaurav Yadav said the arrests in the murder case of Sikh activist Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau alias Bhodi were made in a joint operation of the state special operation cell, the Anti-gangster Task Force and Faridkot Police.
Pragya Jain, senior superintendent of police, Faridkot, identified the arrested persons as Anmolpreet Singh alias Vishal, a resident of Bhadorh in Barnala, and Navjot Singh alias Neetu, a resident of Nijjar road in Kharar.
The police also arrested their accomplice Balvir Singh alias Kalu, brother of Navjot, for aiding and abetting the criminals. All the arrested persons have criminal history, Jain said.
The police said they recovered two sophisticated pistols along with seven live cartridges from the accused.
Gurpreet Singh Hari Nau was shot dead in Faridkot on October 9 while returning home from the village gurdwara on his motorcycle.
The police had then claimed that gangster-turned-terrorist Arshdeep Singh alia Arsh Dalla was the mastermind behind the murder. They had also alleged that the activist was killed at the behest of Amritpal Singh, who is lodged in Dibrugarh jail in Assam under the stringent National Security Act.
SSP Jain on Sunday said preliminary investigations revealed that Arsh Dalla tasked Navjot to target the Sikh activist, who runs a YouTube channel under the name of "Hari Nau Talks".
Arsh Dalla also asked him to rope in more associates to execute the task, she said, after which Navjot took the help of Anmolpreet, she said.
Jain said Arsh Dalla arranged a pistol along with ammunition and a motorcycle for the duo, who on October 9 went to Hari Nau village and shot dead the activist.
The senior officer said investigation revealed that both the shooters were provided hideouts by Arsh Dalla.
After the crime, the shooters were constantly on the move and changed several hideouts in various cities, including Amritsar, SBS Nagar, Himachal-Punjab Border, Chandigarh, Mohali and Kharar.
Jain said the probe also found that the accused also killed Jaswant Singh Gill on Thursday in Gwalior on directions from Arsh Dalla. Both suspects then returned to Punjab after committing the crime, where they were apprehended near Kharar.
In addition to this, these accused were involved in a firing and extortion incident at Zirakpur on October 18, where a businessman was threatened after firing and a poster came up at his building's main entrance with Arsh Dalla's name on it.
During investigation, information relating to their wider conspiracy to target more individuals was received and was probed diligently, said Jain, adding that with their arrest at least four target killings of prominent persons in major cities have been averted.
Meanwhile, Arsh Dalla, who is a Khalistani extremist and was designated a terrorist by India, is likely to have been arrested in Canada's Ontario province following a shooting incident, sources in New Delhi claimed on Sunday.
The incident is suspected to have occurred on October 28 in Milton.
