Punjab: Armed men in police uniform break into jail, free Khalistan chief

Nabha: Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief and noted terrorist Harminder Singh Mintoo and four other prisoners escaped from Punjab's Nabha Jail on Sunday after 10 armed men broke into the jail and helped the prisoners top escape.

The four prisoners who escaped along Mintoo are Gurpreet Singh, Vicky Gondra, Nitin Deol and Vikramjeet Singh.

The incident happened early in the morning, when the armed men wearing police uniforms fired over 100 rounds at the jail authorities.

The Punjab Police are now at spot to assess the situation, even as the probe has been initiated.

The Punjab government has suspended the Director General of jails for the incident.

A team under ADGP has been formed to investigate the incident. Strict action will be taken against whoever responsible,” Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said.

He said that a special Task Force under intelligence agencies has been set up to track down the escapees.

The dreaded militant Mintoo, was arrested by Punjab police from Delhi's IGI airport on November 2014 when he was on his way back from Thailand.

The 47-year-old is wanted in 10 terror-related cases, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and 2010 recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station.

Mintoo took over the KLF in 2009 after he had defected from Wadhawa Singh-led Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

He is wanted for plotting killings of three Punjab Shiv Sena leaders. He also planted Improvised Explosive Devices at Halwara Air Force station near Ludhiana in 2010.