The Nayagaon police in Mohali has arrested a man posing as a Nihang in connection with the abduction of journalist Gurpyar Singh, who was kidnapped from his office in Shivalik Vihar on the evening of Tuesday.
According to police, three men dressed in Nihang attire abducted the journalist around 7 pm from the office of a news channel. Within 20 hours, police rescued him from Kotkapura in Faridkot district, nearly 211 kilometres away.
Mohali SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans said a case was registered under Section 140(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Nayagaon police station on the complaint of Manpreet Kaur, a resident of Makraur Sahib, Sangrur district.
The accused have been identified as Balkaranjit Singh, a resident of Rekhe Kalan village (Bathinda), and his accomplices Hardeep Singh and Jaskaran Singh.
Police have arrested Balkaranjit from Kotkapura and while efforts are underway to trace the remaining two accused.
As per the FIR filed by Manpreet, sister of the victim, her brother Gurpyar Singh, who works with a TV news channel, had purchased 28 kanal 5 marla land in village Dhamdhan Sahib around two years ago through Ravi Saroop. The pending payment of Rs 12 lakh was given to property dealers Devraj, Madan Singh, and Bhola Singh on Ravi’s instructions. However, the dealers allegedly refused to pay Ravi Saroop, leading to a police complaint at Moonak police station.
When no resolution seemed likely, Gurpyar’s mother Jasbir Kaur sought help from Hardeep Singh (Akali), Jassa Singh, and another man who claimed to be Nihangs. The trio mediated a compromise with the property dealers but soon started demanding money from Gurpyar’s family as a fee for the settlement.
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On November 4, the same three men arrived at Gurpyar ’s office in Shivalik Vihar around 5:15 pm, called him outside, and soon after abducted him in a car (Ritz). The entire incident was captured on CCTV, and the footage later went viral on social media.
Following the complaint, police teams from AGTF Faridkot, Bathinda, and Mohali, using technical surveillance and human intelligence, launched a coordinated operation. Within 20 hours, the journalist was rescued safely from Kotkapura.
SSP Hans said during interrogation, accused Balkaranjit confessed that the group demanded money from Gurpyar for facilitating the property dispute settlement. When the cheques issued as part of the compromise bounced, and the family refused to pay, the accused decided to abduct him to exert pressure.
Police said further raids are being conducted to nab the other two accused, the SSP added.
