Faridkot, July 28: A key suspect in the recent Bhamanwala murder case and close aide of absconding gangster Gaurav alias Lucky Patial was arrested following a dramatic armed encounter with Faridkot police near Beer Sikhawala. The accused, identified as Chinki, sustained injuries during the exchange of fire and was taken into custody.
According to Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Pragya Jain, the arrest is part of the ongoing probe into the July 22 killing of Yadwinder Singh, who was shot dead by motorcycle-borne assailants while accompanying Jeewanjot Singh Chahal alias Jugnu to a religious event in Bhamanwala village.
Chinki, believed to be working for the Davinder Bambiha gang, was initially detained along with his associate Suraj Kumar from Sirsa, Haryana, on July 27. However, the arrest turned volatile during a follow-up operation when police took Chinki to recover the motorcycle used in the murder.
“While at the location, he retrieved a hidden .32 bore pistol from bushes and opened fire at the police party,” said SSP Jain. “Our officers returned fire, injuring him. He was immediately arrested and shifted for medical care.”
Police recovered the weapon used in the attack, two live cartridges, and the motorcycle. An FIR has been registered under Sections 103(1), 109, 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 25, 27, 54, 59 of the Arms Act at City Police Station, Kotkapura.
Police sources claim the July 22 attack was a planned hit targeting Jugnu, who was previously named in the Sidhu Moosewala murder chargesheet. Chahal, however, survived the ambush due to a last-minute change in travel plans.
“I had been sitting in my vehicle with my driver, but my uncle asked me to ride with him instead,” Chahal said. “As we began the journey in a convoy of four to five cars, three men on motorcycles opened fire on the car I was initially seated in. My driver was killed on the spot.”
The incident took place while Chahal was returning from his grandfather’s bhog ceremony at a gurudwara in Bhamanwala village near Kotkapura. Investigators believe gangster Lucky Patial ordered the attack.
Chahal has remained a figure of controversy since the 2022 murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala. On May 29 that year—the day Moosewala was shot dead in Mansa—Chahal posted a cryptic message on Facebook reading, “Mansa ch ajj sham nu bahut wadda toofan aun wala hai” (“A major storm is coming to Mansa this evening”), which he deleted soon after. Based on this and other evidence, he was included in the chargesheet and placed under surveillance.
In April 2024, Chahal was briefly detained at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport while allegedly attempting to leave the country. He was flagged due to a Look Out Circular issued by Mansa Police on Moosewala’s family’s request. Although the LoC had been cancelled by then, the airport immigration system had not updated the change.
With Chinki now in custody and the weapon recovered, police say more arrests in the case are likely as the investigation into the gang’s wider operations continues.
