Ludhiana : ‘Gangster’ Harsimran Singh Mand, who is lodged in the Ludhiana central jail, has been booked along with his four aides for allegedly thrashing two inmates, forcing one of them to arrange ₹ 2 lakh for an associate of the accused. The Division number 7 police registered an FIR against the accused on Wednesday.
The police are trying to identify the aides of the gangster who are collecting money from inmates’ kin. Authorities subsequently recorded statements of the two victims and approached the police. Police are likely to seek production warrants for questioning the accused. The accused had also hit the police vehicle with their SUV in a bid to escape on Rampura Road in Doraha. The accused opened fire at Inspector Akash Dutt; however, the latter escaped unhurt as he was wearing a bulletproof jacket. Mand had managed to escape While his associates were arrested on the spot and firearms and ammunition were recovered from them.
On the complaint of assistant superintendent Rishavpal Goyal, the Division number 7 police registered an FIR against five undertrials — Harsimran Singh Mand, Jagveer Singh, Jatinder Singh, Abhey and Sukhman — and a convict, Gurjeet Singh. The accused have been booked under Section 308(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 42(2) of the Punjab Prisons and Correctional Services Act, 2026. On January 19, the Doraha police had arrested Mand, who was wanted in an attempted murder case, along with his aide following an exchange of bullets. A case was registered on October 10, 2025, at the Doraha police station, in which he and his associates had attempted to drive through a police checkpoint while travelling in a Scorpio-N.
Officials said the accused ran an extortion racket inside the prison. ASI Gurdial Singh, the investigating officer, said the FIR was registered on the basis of the complaint received from the jail authorities. He said police would investigate how the mobile phone entered the prison and why the two particular inmates were allegedly targeted. Mand has a long criminal history in Ludhiana commissionerate and Khanna district, with involvement in organised crime, violent offences and illegal weapons, according to the police.
