Mumbai: Paramjeet Singh, a former Haryana police constable who was wanted in the Sandeep Gadoli encounter case in Mumbai, was arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch and brought to Mumbai on Sunday, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to seven.
On February 7 last year, a five-member team of the Haryana police had shot dead Sandeep Gadoli, an alleged gangster from Gurugram, at the Airport Metro hotel near the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
The Mumbai Police subsequently registered a case of murder against them. Four of the five policemen, including police sub-inspector Pradhuman Yadav, who led the team, were arrested in the case.
The Crime Branch has also arrested Gadoli’s girlfriend Divya Pahuja and her mother for their alleged role in the encounter.
Police officers said that Mr. Singh, who was suspended along with the other policemen last year, had since been absconding, and was arrested by the Haryana police last Wednesday.
An officer with the Mumbai Police Crime Branch said, “Mr. Singh was among the several accused arrested in a raid at an illegal casino inside a residential complex in Gurugram. He was operating the casino along with a partner. The police also found a country-made gun and four live rounds of ammunition on him when they arrested him.” He added, “Following his arrest, the Haryana police informed us about the matter,” he said.
The Crime Branch team sent a team to Haryana on Friday, and after Mr. Singh’s custody with the Haryana police expired, the Mumbai police sought his transit remand from a Haryana court.
“Our team brought Mr. Singh to Mumbai on Sunday night,” said the officer.
Crime Branch Unit VIII, which is investigating the case, will interrogate Mr. Singh about the sequence of events inside the hotel on the day of the alleged fake encounter, and will verify the claims made by the others arrested in the case, who are all currently in judicial custody.
“In case any new facts come to light, we might need to interrogate the others again,” the officer said.
Mr. Singh was produced in Esplanade Court on Monday and has been remanded in police custody till October 23.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sanjay Saxena confirmed his arrest.