BHOPAL: A supari of Rs 2.5 lakh was given for the contract killing of paroled murder convict Jaswant Singh Gill in Gwalior on Nov 7, police said Monday after identifying the two shooters as Navjot Singh and Amalpreet Singh — henchmen of pro-Khalistan extremist Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla.
The alleged gunmen were caught by Punjab Police in another case Sunday and were later found to be connected to the Gwalior murder. “We are trying to get them here on transit remand,” Gwalior SP Dharmvir Singh told TOI.
According to investigators, Navjot and Amalpreet had arrived in Gwalior on the morning of the murder and were identified from Aadhaar cards they had given at a hotel in Tekanpur near Gwalior. The hit was paid for by Satpal Singh, Canada-based brother of Gwalior’s Sukhwinder Singh, Gill’s maternal uncle whom he had shot dead in 2016. Satpal offered the supari to Dalla in Canada, police said.
Six months ago, Satpal and his parents members had visited Gwalior from Canada when they learnt that Gill had been out multiple times on parole. It was at this point that Satpal decided to take revenge, police said. The shooters were told to empty an entire magazine into Gill’s chest, but the pistol jammed and the shooter could get off three shots, killing Gill on the spot.
The shooters then fled to Mohali, 600km from Gwalior, in a luxury taxi hired from Canada. The taxi was tracked via toll booth records and the payment was traced to Satpal, cops said, adding that the cabbie was detained to ascertain if he was part of conspiracy.
Intelligence officers said Arsh Dalla, who is allegedly associated with the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and ran terror modules for terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar (killed in June last year), was recently arrested in Ontario in connection with a shooting case. Dalla is among the ‘Khalistani terrorists’ India wants extradited from Canada.
Dalla’s henchmen Navjot and Amalpreet, residents of Barnala, were caught near Mohali Sunday and two pistols were seized from them. They were arrested for the killing of Sikh activist Gurpreet Hari Nau in Faridkot last month, and it was during their interrogation that cops realised they had carried out the Gwalior murder as well.
“Investigations reveal that the accused also killed Jaswant Singh Gill on Nov 7, 2024, in Gwalior under directions from Arsh Dalla,” the Punjab DGP said. Gill’s shooting was captured on CCTV and police had clear images of the gunmen, who hadn’t bothered to wear masks.