After police re-arrested Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo from New Delhi’s Nizamuddin railway station, they found out Mintoo had planned to board a train to Mumbai. Police traced him when he called a relative in west Delhi’s Subhash Nagar. He also visited his relatives in Delhi which helped the police to track down and arrest him.
According to police, Mintoo and other fugitive Kashmeer Singh changed their look by trimming their beards and reach Delhi after changing several vehicles. After their escape from the jail, Mintoo along with Kashmeer Singh and Gurpreet Singh Sekhon boarded a Toyota Fortuner.
Sekhon’s brother Mani arranged the car to escape the jail-breakers from Nabha jail to sugarcane fields near Kaithal. There they were given Rs. 19,000 for their Mumbai journey and pistol along with six rounds each. Mintoo also called his relatives in Goa to arrange money to travel abroad.
The two escapists hid in sugarcane field till afternoon and borrowed a pair of scissors from a farmer to trim their beard. Then they took a jeep to Kurukshetra. Mintoo and Singh then boarded a bus to reach Panipat and Delhi. During the journey, Mintoo established contact with his relative in Delhi and asking the route to the Nizamuddin railway station. They decided to part ways at Kashmere Gate ISBT and planned to meet at Goa on Wednesday.
DCP Special Cell Praod Kushwah formed several teams to trace Mintoo and the teams were placed all the railway stations. Police shared Mintoo’s photographs on WhatsApp. The cops at the Nizamuddin station noticed a man wearing turban buying rail tickets to Panvel. DCP Kushwah said, “He moved around the station with extra caution and his beard seemed to be trimmed hurriedly. When the team confronted him, Mintoo pulled out his pistol and tried to fire but was overpowered by the team. He later identified himself as Mintoo.”
They recovered and seized the foreign made pistol, six rounds of ammunition and Rs.19,000 in new currency notes from him. At the time of the investigation, he admitted that he fired at the guards in Nabha jail and planned to reach Panvel on the Goa Express and then travel to Goa.
He hoped to get support from his family as his family since 1990 has been running a tourism business in Goa.
Mintoo and Kashmeer had planned to leave for Nepal in next week and then travel to Thailand. He admitted that he had been in touch with terror organizations based in Pakistan.
A Search operation was launched to nab Kashmeer who is suspected to be hiding in southwest Delhi. On Monday afternoon, Mintoo was produced before a court and given a seven day’s custody.
The investigation has revealed that Mintoo made calls to Pakistan while he was lodged in the Nava jail. It is suspected that he called to the sympathizer of Khalistan movement and also to some ISI operatives in Pakistan.
The other escapees are terrorist Kashmir Galwaddi and gangsters Vicky Gonder, Neeta Deol and Amandeep Doda.
Mintoo’s family members relieved
Mintoo’s family members included his mother, his older and younger brothers, their spouses and three children were relieved after hearing his arrest.
His family has shifted to Goa from Punjab in 1991. They said they had no connection with Mintoo since 2006. His 49-year-old younger brother said, “Since the jailbreak, for whatsoever reason we have been receiving a barrage of calls, WhatsApp messages from our relatives and friends in Punjab informing us about the developments in a sympathetic tone. But frankly, we don’t need that. Mintoo is a stranger to us as much he is to any law abiding citizen. We have broken all ties with Mintoo since many years.”
In 1992, Mintoo involved in construction related work in Goa. He was elected as Pradhan at Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Betim between 2003 to 2005. Betim Gurudwara authorities said that at first, they didn’t know about Mintoo’s background despite his family’s hints. They came to know about it in 2014 when the media flashed his arrest news.
Mintoo was arrested in 10-terror-related cases including the attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh in 2008 and the recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station in 2010.
