The CIA wing of the Punjab Police has arrested Gurjeet Ladda near Rajpura following inputs from the Organised Crime Control Unit. Senior superintendent of police (SSP) S Bhupati said the gangster, who was travelling in his Pajero car that bore a fake number plate tried to run over the cops when he was signaled to stop.

Besides masterminding the jailbreak, Ladda is involved in several cases of kidnapping and over a dozen double murder cases. He is a key suspect in the daylight murder of two rival gangsters in Gurdaspur on April 20.

The police managed to intercept his vehicle and recovered a .30-bore pistol and 44 live cartridges, fake voter ID, PAN card and passport in the name of Surjit Singh of Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh,” the SSP said. The police also recovered some fake documents on the name of his wife Ramandeep Kaur and daughter Jaijee Kaur. Police also said that he was planning to leave for the US.

“He along with arrested gangster Palwinder Pinda was the key conspirator. It was his brainchild to use police uniforms to gain entry into the jail complex,” said Brar, adding that Ladda was also instrumental in ensuring that Majha and Doaba gangsters worked together. The police said Ladda was wanted in several cases of extortion and murder.

He is also believed to be behind the kidnapping of a doctor of a drug de-addiction centre in Amritsar. The doctor was later released after Rs 1.25 crore was paid in ransom. In May 2017, Dr Munish Kumar, another Amritsar doctor, was kidnapped and released after the family paid Rs 7.5 lakh against the ransom demand of Rs 1 crore. He had further extorted Rs 50 lakh from another victim, besides Rs 90 lakh from Harjinder Bajaj, a Chandigarh financier, in 2016. 

The police have registered case under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public function) and 473 (possessing counterfeit seal) of the Indian Penal Code at the Rajpura police station.