SSOC Foils Targeted Contract Killing With Arrest of Three Shooters in Punjab

The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) disrupted a major targeted assassination plot after apprehending three contracted hitmen linked to international syndicates. The operations successfully neutralized an immediate security threat in Punjab’s border region, securing vital weaponry and exposing cross-border extortion networks terrorizing local professionals.

The State Special Operation Cell achieved a major breakthrough on Saturday by successfully preempting a high-profile, targeted contract assassination plot. Counter-intelligence operatives arrested three alleged hitmen linked explicitly to dangerous, foreign-based crime syndicates managed by fugitive gangsters Keshav Shivala and Amrit Dallam.

Senior police officials officially identified the apprehended suspects as Anmol Singh and Jagroop Singh, who both reside permanently in the Dera Baba Nanak locality of Gurdaspur district. The third arrested co-conspirator was identified as Mohit Bhatti, a resident hailing from the Gate Hakiman territory of Amritsar.

The police operations team intercepted and cornered the armed suspects directly underneath a highway bridge located along the busy Batala Road bypass area. The tactical raid was swiftly executed after law enforcement infrastructure received highly specific, actionable intelligence inputs regarding their physical movements.

During the successful tactical interception, searching officers recovered and confiscated three sophisticated foreign-manufactured semi-automatic pistols, three matching ammunition magazines, 11 live cartridges, and three active mobile devices. Their fourth criminal accomplice, assigned to drive the shooters to the targeted zone, evaded the police net and remains at large.

Preliminary custodial interrogations uncovered that the arrested shooters were acting entirely under the direct operational command of overseas handlers Shivala and Dallam. The broader criminal syndicate is responsible for numerous violent extortion rackets, murders, attempted homicides, and drive-by shooting incidents spanning across the sensitive Majha border belt.

This criminal network has successfully established a pervasive climate of intense fear confronting prominent local business owners and medical professionals throughout the strategic border zone stretching from Pathankot down to Tarn Taran. The targeted entities were routinely subjected to severe financial threats by the cross-border operation.

During intensive police interrogation, the detained hitmen explicitly confessed to their direct participation in the targeted assassination of rival gangster Dharamjit Singh, widely known as Dharma. The victim was brutally gunned down on September 25, 2025, mere days after leaving prison on an official parole order.

Immediately following that fatal shooting incident, the perpetrators rapidly escaped across state lines into neighboring Himachal Pradesh to evade law enforcement tracking. They subsequently chose to return to Gurdaspur district only after assessing that the localized police search operations had sufficiently cooled down.

Senior investigative sources confirmed that the three captured individuals already face multiple serious criminal cases registered across various jurisdictions in the Majha belt. The suspects maintain extensive documentation of ongoing illicit activities, displaying a long history of violent non-compliance with regional law enforcement frameworks.

Digital forensics experts successfully retrieved numerous direct contact numbers belonging to affluent local businessmen from the seized mobile phones. This critical evidentiary recovery indicates that the gang utilized these communication lines to issue aggressive extortion threats and systematically collect illicit ransom payments from terrified targets.

The state police escorted the suspects to a local judicial court on Saturday, which subsequently granted a four-day police custody remand for deeper interrogation. During these sessions, the hitmen provided critical disclosures regarding the financial infrastructure supporting their underground contract killing operations.

The shooters explicitly informed investigators that they received a mere sum of Rs 10,000 each, routed through illicit, parallel hawala channels, to execute the murder of Dharma. This surprisingly low valuation underscores the cheap availability of contracted mercenary labor within regional criminal networks.

The captured operatives additionally revealed that they typically demanded and received approximately Rs 5,000 for executing targeted drive-by firing incidents. These tactical intimidation operations were routinely conducted outside the private residences of prominent regional citizens who flatly refused to comply with the gang’s extortion demands.

Historical Context

The border districts of Punjab, particularly the Majha region stretching between Pathankot and Tarn Taran, have increasingly become prime operating grounds for proxy-led criminal enterprises. Foreign-based gang leaders routinely exploit localized networks by employing motorized, local youth for low-fee violent assignments via untraceable financial mechanisms like hawala.

FAQs

Who are the main gang leaders operating this cross-border network?

The illegal operations are directed by foreign-based handlers identified as Keshav Shivala and Amrit Dallam, who orchestrate regional crimes remotely.

What weapons were recovered from the arrested hitmen?

The State Special Operation Cell seized three foreign-made pistols, three magazines, and 11 live cartridges during the raid.

How much were the shooters paid for the contract killing?

The perpetrators revealed they were paid just Rs 10,000 each via underground hawala networks to assassinate rival operative Dharamjit Singh.