CHANDIGARH: Almost six years after the arrest of Ramanjit Singh alias Romi (29) the mastermind behind the 2016 Nabha jailbreak, has been extradited to India from Hong Kong. Singh hailing from Bangi Ruldu village of Bathinda district of Punjab was arrested in Hong Kong for his role in a robbery of 450 million Japanese yen (HK$32 million) on February 9, this year. Interpol then informed the Punjab Police about his arrest. The money was later recovered. He was on court bail after being charged over another robbery in Hung Hom in March 2017, involving HK$3.2 million. He allegedly raised an empire in Hong Kong through nefarious activities and faced a Red Corner notice.Singh was the key conspirator in the Nabha jailbreak incident in which six hardcore criminals, including two terrorists, managed to escape. A team of Punjab Police, comprising the assistant inspector general (AIG), crime investigation department (CID), Patiala, Harvinder Virk and Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) deputy superintendent of police Bikram Brar, brought Singh back to Indira Gandhi, International Airport, New Delhi.Sources said Singh was the communication link between Punjab gangsters and ISI-backed Pakistan-based terrorists. He was working through WhatsApp and VoIP platforms. He was the contact person of the terrorist-gangster nexus and hatched the jailbreak conspiracy sitting abroad. He was involved in arms and drugs smuggling and had provided money, weapons and other logistical support for the Nabha jailbreak.A group of gangsters in police uniforms opened fire at security guards in the high-security Nabha jail in Patiala district on November 27, 2016, and freed four gangsters besides two terrorists. Khalistani Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintu who was escaped in this jailbreak was arrested by the state police within a few hours. The main accused involved in this case, gangster Vicky Gounder, was killed in a police encounter.The union government had sent formal requests for his deportation through diplomatic channels and a court in Hong Kong handed his custody to India after much delay. The extradition proceedings against Singh were initiated in 2018 as he had been residing at Kowloon in Hong Kong.
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