The accused were also planning to execute target killing in the area, police said. (Representational)
Punjab Police's State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) on Tuesday busted an extortion racket backed by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, with the arrest of its two key operatives.
Two .32 bore pistols along with two live cartridges from their possession, said police.
The arrested have been identified as Tarlochan Singh alias Rahul Cheema of Sector 26 in Chandigarh and Harish alias Harry alias Baba village Bupania in district Jhajjar, Haryana.
AIG SSOC SAS Nagar Ashwani Kapur said, "They have received intel-based inputs that some members of Lawrence Bishnoi gang are making threatening calls to extort businessmen and influential persons of Punjab and adjoining states, and are also planning to execute target killing in the area."
He further said, "Acting swiftly, Police teams from SSOC SAS Nagar arrested accused Tarlochan Singh after recovering one pistol along with two live cartridges on Monday, followed by, the arrest of accused Harish alias Harry with one pistol on Tuesday. "
The Additional Inspector General, Ashwani Kapur, said "Preliminary investigations have revealed that both the arrested persons wanted to get fame and had made profiles on different social media platforms where they used to flaunt arms and ammunition to lure the youth and radicalise them to work for the gang. Accused persons used to offer high-profile lifestyles to innocent youth by promising them a good amount of money in return, he said.
He said that SSOC has procured three days of Police remand of both the accused persons after producing them in the local court and further investigations are on to track down and apprehend other members of the module.
A case FIR no 16 on September 11 has been registered under sections 25, 25(6) and 25(7) of the Arms Act and sections 384 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Police Station SSOC Mohali.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)