Three facilitators of Nabha jailbreak arrested by Delhi Police

KLF chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, Kashmeer Singh, Gurpreet Singh Shekhon, Vicky Gonder, Kulpreet Singh and Amandeep Singh had escaped jail.

New Delhi: Three persons, including the hitman who facilitated the escape of Khalistan Liberation Front chief from Nabha jail in Punjab, have been arrested from southeast Delhi's Lajpat Nagar area, police said on Thursday.

Chanpreet Singh aka Channa, Harjot Singh aka Jot, and Ranjit Singh Kalkat were arrested last night when they were planning to flee to Punjab, said PS Kushwah, DCP (Special Cell).

Channa played the role of the hitman in the infamous jailbreak case in which 14 men stormed the jail in four cars and facilitated the escape of six inmates on November 27. He had snatched weapons from the sentry and assisted all the six inmates to flee.

The six inmates who had escaped the jail were KLF chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, and Kashmeer Singh, Gurpreet Singh Shekhon, Vicky Gonder, Kulpreet Singh and Amandeep Singh.

Channa was lodged in Kapurthala jail for a murder case but was out on bail since August, police said.

KLF chief Mintoo was nabbed from Nizamuddin Railway Station by Special Cell on the intervening night of November 27 and 28 after he had escaped the Nabha jail. "His custodial interrogation revealed that some of the escapees and criminals involved in the jailbreak could take shelter in Delhi," Kushwah said.

The Punjab Police too had similar inputs and both the teams made joint efforts to track the criminals, Kushwah said.

Yesterday, the teams got specific input about the movement of two criminals involved in jailbreak and their harbourer, while they were planning to flee to Punjab.

"Late evening, the three persons were intercepted at Lajpat Nagar-IV, near Moolchand flyover. As soon as the police teams surrounded them, they whipped out their loaded pistols but were overpowered by the teams before they could open fire," said Kushwah.

Three sophisticated semi-automatic pistols along with 17 live cartridges have been recovered and a case under relevant sections has been registered against them, said the officer.

During interrogation, Channa and Harjot told police that after the jailbreak, they fled to Chandigarh and remained there for a night.

"When they got to know that Penda (mastermind of the jailbreak) was caught by UP police in Shamli, they shifted to Delhi and took shelter in Lajpat Nagar," said Kushwah.

Channa, along with his cousin Pradeep, had brutally murdered one of the top gangsters of Punjab Nishan Singh aka Shanna in broad daylight in 2013.

"Channa's name figured in the list of top gangsters of Punjab and nearby states. In the Ropar jail where he was lodged, he met Vicky Gonder who planned Nabha jailbreak with Penda and others," said Kushwah.

Harjot's father was in the Indian Army. "After coming out from the jail, Channa started living with Harjot and after the jailbreak, Channa contacted him and he helped Channa by providing him shelter," said the officer.

Kalkat was contacted by Channa after the jailbreak to provide shelter which he did, he added.

The trio belong to Hoshiarpur in Punjab.