Chandigarh: Punjab police on Monday claimed to have arrested a close associate of foreign-based terrorist Arsh Dalla and Jindi Mehandipuria, who is a brother of slain terrorist Teja Mehandipuri, from Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav, said that the operation was conducted by Punjab police with the support of Gujarat police.
DGP Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that accused Lavish was acting under the direct instructions of Dalla and was engaged in extortion activities, including firing at targets to intimidate victims.
The arrested accused has a criminal background with multiple cases pertaining to murder, attempted extortion through gunfire, and other serious offences have been registered against him, he added.
Punjab police said it has been following the trail of the accused Lavish from the past few months, and following the technical and human-intel, police teams managed to track his location in Gujarat. “With the support of Gujarat Police, we have successfully arrested him from the area of Usmanpura in Gujarat,” DGP Yadav said.
The police said that preliminary investigation has revealed that accused Lavish had conducted recce of a Rahon-based liquor contractor and a Nawanshahr-based travel agent from whom Dalla had demanded extortion of ₹50 lacs each.
The accused Lavish was absconding since May 2024 after a murder in Hoshiarpur. He had also fired gunshots outside the house in Sukhdev Nagar to intimidate the owner to extort money.
