Accused Mohit BhardwajA 32-year-old man, who had allegedly been in touch with and paid for the expenses of the former crime investigation agency (CIA) in charge of Mansa, Sub Inspector (SI) Pritpal Singh, was arrested in Chandigarh on Friday night. Deepak Tinu, an accused in Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala’s killing, had escaped from the custody of SI Pritpal Singh.
The arrested accused was identified as one Mohit Bhardwaj, a resident of Bapu Dham Colony, Sector 26. A countrymade pistol, bearing a “Made in USA” mark, was recovered from the possession of Bhardwaj.
As per details, Bhardwaj had studied with gangster Sampat Nehra at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College (SGGSC), Sector 26, in 2006-07. Sources said Bhardwaj had once met Nehra in Bangkok in 2017. Later, Nehra gave him the reference of Deepak Tinu, with whom Bhardwaj later got in touch. Bhardwaj became an aide of Tinu and facilitated his escape from custody, with the help of SI Pritpal Singh on October 4. Pritpal Singh has been suspended and arrested by Punjab Police for being a part of the conspiracy that helped Deepak Tinu escape. Tinu meanwhile was rearrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police on October 20.
“We have the disclosure statement of Mohit Bhardwaj where he details how he had facilitated the then Mansa CIA in charge Pritpal Singh. We also have electronic evidence supporting his version. Deepak Tinu had called Mohit Bhardwaj instructing him to facilitate Pritpal Singh in Chandigarh around three months ago. Bhardwaj picked up Pritpal from Mohali and paid for all his shopping expenses in Elante Mall. Later, Bhardwaj took him to a nightclub and also arranged his stay in ahotel. We have learned that when Bhardwaj was short of funds, a relative of Deepak Tinu came to Chandigarh to give money to him. He is in three days of police custody with us,” a senior police officer said.