Two drug smugglers from Punjab, who were on the run after allegedly killing two policemen in Ludhiana, were gunned down by West Bengal police today during a shootout at a residential neighbourhood on Kolkata outskirts.
Jaipal Singh Bhullar and Jaspreet Singh were shot dead after they fired at officials of the Special Task Force during a raid at an apartment they were holed up in, said Punjab’s Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta.
V K Goyal, chief of the Special Task Force, said they had received information that some criminals were hiding in the apartment. “When we came for a raid, we found Jaspreet and Jaipal, who are wanted in several cases in Punjab. We tried to arrest them but they resisted and fired at us. In retaliation, we also fired & they were shot dead,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
He said an inspector was injured in the shootout and has been hospitalised. “Rs 7 lakh in cash, five weapons and 89 live rounds have been seized,” he said.
DGP Gupta told the media that Jaipal Bhullar and Jaspreet Singh were most wanted drug smugglers and had bounties of ₹ 10 lakh and ₹ 5 lakh, respectively, on their heads. The two, he said, were wanted in connection with the killing of Assistant Sub-inspectors of Police Bhagwan Singh and Dalwinderjit Singh at Jagraon in Ludhiana on May 15.
The policemen had gone to a grain market following a tip-off that drugs and illicit liquor were being smuggled there. As they were checking vehicles, they came under heavy firing and were shot dead. Subsequently, Jaipal Bhullar, Jaspreet Singh and others were booked for allegedly killing the policemen.
DGP Gupta said Punjab Police had launched a search for the accused and sent teams to several states.
