Gangster Prema Lahoria, who was killed along with Punjab’s most-wanted Vicky Gounder in an encounter on Friday evening near the Punjab-Rajasthan border, was on the list of a dozen gangsters wanted for storming Nabha jail in 2016.
A resident of Basti Mithu in Jalandhar, Lahoria earlier belonged to the Sukha Kahlwan gang before switching sides and joining Gounder, Kahlwan’s rival. He was earlier close to gangster Daljeet Bhana as well.
Lahoria, Gounder and Bhana were friends in 2009 and studied together at Government Arts and Sports College in Jalandhar. Kahlwan reportedly killed Lovely Baba, a close friend of Lahoria in 2014, following which Lahoria and Gounder came together.
Gounder, a member of a gang started by Jaipal Singh, was named prime accused in the murder of Kahlwan.
Gounder and Lahoria killed Kahlwan in Phagwara in January 2015 when six policemen were taking Kahlwan back to Nabha jail in a jeep after a court hearing in Jalandhar. According to sources, Gounder even filmed the act and danced around the Kahlwan’s body in front of the policemen and fled from the spot.
While the police had managed to nab most of the accused in Kahlwan murder case, Lahoria had been on the run after shifting from his hideouts in Dehradun.
He played a key role to help Gounder and five others flee from the high-security Nabha jail.
District and session court of Kapurthala in November last year had framed charges against seven accused of murdering Kahlwan and declared Gounder, Lahoria and five others proclaimed offenders (POs) in the case.
