Nabha jailbreak mastermind Ramanjit Singh, alias Romi, was on Friday denied bail in Hong Kong, where he is charged with a multi-million dollar robbery.
Romi, who is on Interpol’s global watch list, was detained this month by authorities in the southern Chinese city over the robbery.
He is accused of stealing more than 450 million Japanese yen (USD 4 million) in cash from two persons at an address in Tsim Sha Tsui, in the bustling heart of Hong Kong, on February 9.
Romi, who faces one charge of robbery, appeared in magistrates’ court today with co-defendant Enish Limbu.
Dozens of heavily-armed police surrounded Kowloon City court with traffic cordons set up and police dogs on the scene.
Those entering went through security checks, including body screening, not usually seen in lower courts.
Romi, 29, arrived in a prison van escorted by around eight police motorbikes.
He was denied bail by a magistrate who described the robbery as a “very serious offence” and said he was at risk of re-offending.
Bearded and wearing a zip-up brown jacket, Romi remained calm and listened closely to proceedings via an interpreter.
The Punjab Police have sent an extradition request to Hong Kong through India’s Foreign Ministry.
Romi is accused of masterminding the Nabha jail break in 2016 in which armed men disguised as policemen stormed a high-security jail in Punjab and freed a top militant commander and four others.
The list of charges against him on Interpol’s website includes forgery, possession of arms, conspiracy to murder and “advising and facilitating terrorist activities”.
Romi was arrested in 2016 but fled the country after being granted bail.
Hailing from Bathinda’s Bangi Kalan village, he had been residing at Kowloon, Hong Kong, from around the age of nine.
Romi, it is believed, was the point man for coordination between Punjab gangsters and terrorists. After gangsters Vicky Gounder and Prema Lahoria were killed in an encounter recently, Punjab DGP Suresh Arora had said that Romi had helped Gounder procure an assault rifle and that he had masterminded the Nabha jailbreak by funding gangsters active in Punjab’s Majha, Malwa and Doaba regions.
