Close aide of Manpreet Badal, Lakha is accused of killing SAD activist at Phul
Wednesday, 18/03/2015
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=126913&boxid=58054&uid=&dat=2015-03-18
Bathinda : As Bathinda police have now arrested the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) leader Lakhbir Singh Lakha Sidhana, the operation launched to arrest him has brought some big names before the police, who were reportedly in his contact ever since he had been on the run.
Among the prominent ones, a senior leader of Simranjit Singh Mann-led Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has come on the police scanner as the investigation officials have, reportedly, learnt him to have stayed at a farmhouse of some SAD (Amritsar) leader located at Talanian village in Fatehgarh Sahib.
Highly-placed sources in the police informed that during his preliminary interrogation, Lakha also admitted that the SAD (Amritsar) leader had also assured him to arrange an advocate for his defence.
It’s worth mentioning that once Simranjit Singh Mann and other SAD (A) leaders had visited him in Bathinda to inquire about his well-being when Lakha was hospitalised for sustaining bullet injuries in 2013.
Further, the police have learnt that during his run Lakha had once contacted PPP chief Manpreet Singh Badal too, reportedly on the third day of the crime. However, he couldn’t get much support from Manpreet except his advice to “take care of himself.”
Interestingly, a notorious gangster Lakha Sidhana, being aware of the investigation procedure of the police, didn’t use his mobile phone in the period of last one month. It’s for what, after making lot of efforts, once police had traced him to be in Payal town of Ludhiana district but before the cops could reach there he had skipped town.
Sources further informed that now besides the physical interrogation of Lakha, the police were also taking support of IT wing of the department to ascertain the role of numerous names figuring out for assisting Lakha after committing the crime.
Bathinda zone IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal, when questioned, declined to divulge the details but mentioned that the cops were making in-depth investigation to trace all his links.
“Let’s complete the probe, we will surely make some significant disclosures in the coming days,” he maintained.
A 33-year-old resident of Sidhana village in Phul tehsil of Bathinda district, Lakha is post graduate with degrees in History and Political Science. He is also MSC (IT) and PGDCA. During his late twenties, he joined Kabaddi team of his village and gradually entered the criminal world. Forming a gang of like-minded youngsters, Lakha, as claimed by the police, got indulged in various crimes, like encroaching properties, making murder bids, loots etc. He has remained close to different politicians at times.
Manpreet Singh Badal picked him as his party candidate to pit against SAD’s Sikander Singh Maluka and Congress candidate Gurpreet Singh Kangar in assembly elections 2012 from Rampura Phul assembly segment.
Having rivalry with various gangsters, Lakha has faced two severe attacks on himself. In the first, which took place on May 16, 2013, during the Zila Parishad polls, Lakha was attacked by one of his rival gangs at Adampura village in Bathinda district, in which his close aide Jaspreet Singh Jassa was killed and he along with two others had sustained bullet injuries.
Earlier, on May 13, 2012, Lakha was attacked by some gangsters and that time too he had suffered bullet injuries. The incident had taken place at his native village Sidhana.
On the other hand, Lakha has been arrested several times by police in the past for his alleged criminal activities and many times police recovered weapons from his possession.
