Security breach: Rocket attack accomplice, Deepak Ranga, caught with active phone in Chandigarh Jail

Deepak Ranga, held at Chandigarh’s Model Burail Jail in connection to the rocketpropelled grenade attack on Punjab police’s intelligence headquarters in May 2022, was discovered in possession of an active cell phone with a SIM card. This find occurred as Ranga (24) was using the phone in the washroom of barrack number 9 on Sunday night. Authorities have initiated legal action against Ranga under the Prisons (Punjab Amendment) Act for having the mobile device. He is currently under interrogation regarding the source of the phone within the jail premises, where he has been incarcerated for the past six months. Previously associated with gangster Harvinder Singh Rinda, Ranga was apprehended by the National Investigation Agency in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur on January 25. Chandigarh police sought custody of Ranga due to his alleged involvement in three murders, including a double homicide in 2019. He was formerly linked with Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang. Hailing from Surakhpur village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, Ranga reportedly received financial support amounting to Rs 10-15 lakh from handlers in Pakistan to execute the rocket-propelled grenade attack in Mohali. The police have identified Harvinder Singh Rinda, believed to be residing in Pakistan, as the mastermind behind the assault on Punjab police’s intelligence headquarters.