Wanted in Nabha jailbreak, suspended cop arrested

Patiala, In a major breakthrough in the Nabha jailbreak case, the Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) of the state police has arrested Manjinder Singh (47), a suspended cop who had helped the gangsters procure police uniforms and prepare fake documents to enter the jail. He has been arrested from Jandiala Guru village of Amritsar district.
Manjinder, cousin of gangster Prema Lahoria who is wanted in a number of cases including the Nabha jailbreak, was the missing link in the case for the past one year.
Sources said he provided police training to these gangsters as to how the Police Department functioned making sure that they elope safely after executing their plan. He even gave them important details about the jail working and the best time to execute the attack.
Manjinder Singh had been under police scanner after one of the arrested gangsters named him during interrogation. The OCCU had been watching his movements since then.
Manjinder had joined the Punjab Police as a constable in 1988, but was suspended in 2005 after he was found guilty in a drug case.
During his service, he came in touch with various gangsters and got into drug trade that led to his suspension from the department in 2005.
Being a close relative of Lahoria, he also came in touch with other gangsters who were freed from Nabha Jail, including Vicky Gounder, Neeta Deol and Gurpreet Sekhon. He not only chalked out a plan for the escape of the gangsters lodged in the jail, but also gave information about the ways the police kept a watch on the inmates.
Sources said it was on his suggestion that the gangsters had set up a control room in Hong Kong to interact among themselves, which was managed by Hong Kong-based financier-cum-handler Ramanjit Singh Romi.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) S Boopathi said Manjinder Singh was close to Lahoria and had taken his land on lease.