NE NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, JUNE 13
The prime accused in the 2015 Hazaribagh court shootout, in which a gangster and his aides were killed, was arrested here and he was formerly with the army, police said on Sunday.
Avtar Singh, a resident of Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district, was hired by the conspirators of the crime for his sharp-shooting skills.
He took voluntary retirement from the army after carrying out the shootout at the district court in Jharkhand, they said.
He has been handed over to the state’s police for further investigation, police here said. Gangster Sushil Srivastava along with two of his aides was shot dead at the Hazaribagh court premises in June 2015. Three others, including a policeman and a lawyer, were injured in the incident. The shootout took place when they were coming out of the Hazaribagh district court where they had been brought from a jail to attend court hearings.
“The Jammu police identified, traced and arrested the prime accused (Singh) of the 2015 Hazaribagh court shootout incident,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Jammu, Chandan Kohli, said.
“The accused was hired by members of a rival gang for his sharp-shooting skills and was paid a hefty amount to carry out the attack along with one more sharp shooter, he said.
The officer said that the accused had taken voluntary retirement from the army after carrying out the shootout on the court premises.
Acting on specific information a few days back, the SSP said, an operation was launched in the R S Pura area on the outskirts of Jammu.
Singh, a resident of Udhampur district, was intercepted for his suspicious identity and a bullet mark on his foot, Kohli said.
“During questioning, he initially shared no valuable information, but on sustained questioning, he started to spill the beans, and confessed that he was involved in Hazaribagh court shootout case where he had received a bullet injury but managed to hide his identity even during police investigation, he said.
