Pavittar Singh, one of India’s most infamous fugitives, was arrested by the FBI in San Joaquin County earlier this month.
Law enforcement officials announced last week that Singh was one of eight people arrested in connection to a gang-related kidnapping and torture case in Manteca.
Driving the news: The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office worked with SWAT teams from Stockton, Manteca, Stanislaus County and the FBI to conduct the investigation across the county that resulted in the eight arrests.
- The suspects were booked into jail on kidnapping, torture, false imprisonment, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and making criminal threats charges.
- Law enforcement was tipped off on June 21 that a crime had occurred in Manteca on June 19.
- The victim told deputies that a group of men kidnapped him, stripped him naked and tortured him for hours.
The big picture: San Joaquin County Sheriff Pat Withrow said Singh is the primary suspect in the investigation and is allegedly the leader of an international criminal organization known as the Pavittar Maja Group.
- Singh is wanted in India for multiple murders, as well as for assault and firearms charges.
- Investigators recovered five handguns, an assault rifle, hundreds of rounds of ammo, high capacity magazines and $15,000 in cash when the eight suspects were arrested.
What they’re saying: “My office became aware of information indicating that a horrendous crime that occurred days prior on June 19 in the Manteca area of San Joaquin County,” said San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow. “Contact was ultimately made with the victim of that crime, who informed us he had been kidnapped, stripped naked and bound and tortured for an extended period of time.”
