Nabha jailbreak prime accused Romi arrested in Hong Kong

PATIALA: Ramanjit Singh Romi, one of the prime accused in planning the sensational Nabha jailbreak in November 2016, has been arrested by the Hong Kong police in connection with a robbery there.

AIG of Organisation Crime Control Unit (OCCU) GS Chauhan said the state police have received an Interpol alert confirming the development. The state police had roped in the Interpol after three gangsters who were arrested in February, last year including jail escapee Gurpreet Sekhon had told the police interrogators that Romi had provided funds for the jailbreak and had even set up a “control room” in Hong Kong to coordinate the movement of the jailbreak escapees using internet telephony.

Chauhan said “We have received an alert that Romi has been arrested in connection with a robbery”, adding that the state police have already taken up the matter with the Union ministry for external affairs to initiate the process for his extradition.

Romi, a native of Bathinda and a close associate of slain gangsters Vicky Gounder and Prema Lahoria, had escaped to Hong Kong in June 2016 after jumping bail. He had been arrested by the Nabha police after stolen cars, pistols and fake credit cards had been recovered from him. The cops had confiscated his passport. After spending around two months behind the bars, Romi came out on bail and managed to get his passport from the department and fled abroad.

There he set up a “control room” to coordinate the movement of the escaped prisoners using internet telephony making it difficult for the police investigators to track down the movement of the jailbreak accused. The escaped prisoner would call up Romi individually to get their coordinates for their safe movement from one state to another.

He had also used various ‘illegal channels’ to send money for the jailbreak and even helped the gangsters to stay off the police radar. He had also tried to help the gangsters prepare fake travel documents including passports so that they could flee from the country, but could never succeed.

Three months prior to the Nabha jailbreak and before he fled to Hong Kong, Romi, who was on out on bail at that time, had been spotted around the Nabha Maximum Security jail following which the Kotwali police had registered another FIR in which it had been clearly stated that Romi along with three of his accomplices was seen in Nabha and “'they might attempt to free their associates lodged in the Maximum Security Jail Nabha.”

The OCCU has till date made 36 arrests in connection with the Nabha jailbreak. Out of six inmates who had fled the maximum security jail, the OCCU has arrested three gangsters including Neeta Deol, Gurpreet Sekhon, Aman Dhotian and KLF chief Harminder Singh Mintoo. Vicky Gounder had been killed in a police encounter while the sixth escapee Sikh Militant Baba Kashmir Singh is still eluding arrests.

Prema Lahoria along with Vicky Gounder, while, Supreet Singh alias Harry Chatha, Gurpreet Singh aka Goppy Ghanshampria, Gurpreet Singh Aka Gopi Khora and Sukhmeet Singh are yet to be arrested.