Arnia shootout: Three arrested, weapons recovered

JAMMU: Three people, including two prime accused in the Arnia shootout case, were arrested on Wednesday and AK-47 ammunition, 12 bore guns, some sharp-edged weapons, four vehicles, 10g heroin and Rs 2 lakh cash seized.
On November 5, three people were killed in Arnia when assailants opened fire at them. “Two of them had succumbed on the spot while the third died during treatment. Another person also sustained bullet injuries,” Jammu SSP Chandan Kohli said.
“Following the attack, the assailants had stashed the weapons in a hideout and fled the spot,” said the SSP, adding that a case was subsequently registered under relevant sections of the law, and an SIT constituted to probe the crime.
“On November 8, the wife of one of the prime accused, Sadeeq Choudhary, was questioned and she led police to the hideout from where the weapons were recovered,” the SSP said.
“Today (Wednesday), the SIT received information about the movement of the accused and formed three teams to trace them. The trio was caught from the outskirts of Kathua,” SSP Kohli said.
“The arrested include Sadeeq Choudhary of Arnia, Bhupinder Singh of RS Pura and their accomplice Gulab Din of Samba, who had been harbouring the two prime accused,” the SSP said. Sadeeq earlier worked in the police department and was dismissed from service in 2019, while Gulab Din alias Ghaisa is a wanted criminal with a string of cases against him, he added.
“A revolver along with 10 cartridges was recovered from Bhupinder and four vehicles used in the crime were seized,” SSP Kohli said, adding: “Based on information obtained from the trio, police raided Bhupinder’s house and recovered 12 bore guns, some sharp-edged weapons, 10g heroin and Rs 2 lakh cash.”