Chandigarh, Nov 7 (IANS) In a major action by the Jalandhar Commissionerate Police, two gangsters of the Kaushal-Bambiha gang sustained critical injuries while attempting to escape from the police custody at the outskirts of Jalandhar cantonment in Punjab, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here on Thursday.

He said two pistols along with five cartridges were recovered from their possession. Both the gangsters, Rajeshwar Kumar and Deepak Vaid, were arrested after their names cropped up during follow-up investigations in the Arms Act case registered on October 17.

As per the information, police teams had arrested four members of this Kaushal-Bambiha module and recovered four weapons from their possession. With the arrest of these two gangsters, the total number of arrests in this case rose to six.

“Police officers have displayed remarkable endurance by chasing and arresting gangsters Rajeshwar Kumar and Deepak Vaid on foot for at least 1.5 km,” said the DGP.

He said both the accused were involved in multiple crimes and were also conspiring major crimes in districts including Hoshiarpur, SBS Nagar and Kapurthala. The accused were also providing logistical assistance to other gang members and supplying weapons to different gangs in Punjab and Haryana, he said.

Sharing more details, Commissioner of Police (Jalandhar) Swapan Sharma said following disclosures of accused gangsters Rajeshwar Kumar and Deepak Vaid, police teams from the Jalandhar Commissionerate were taking both the accused to the secluded place on the outskirts of the Jalandhar Cantonment, where they claimed to have concealed arms and ammunition.

Upon reaching the location, both the accused managed to run from the spot by opening fire at the police party using the pistol retrieved from the spot, he said, while adding acting promptly, police teams opened retaliatory fire to stop them and managed to apprehend them after giving them a 1.5-km foot chase.

During the operation, one of the accused sustained a bullet injury on his right leg, while another one sustained injuries during manhandling with the police teams.

Sharma said both the accused have a criminal history with several criminal cases pertaining to the Arms Act, the NDPS Act, attempt to murder, etc., registered against them.

With the recovery of two more pistols from the spot, a total of six weapons have been recovered from this module so far, he added.