Sharpshooters of Arshdeep Singh gang, tasked with killing singer Elly Mangat, held in Delhi

New Delhi: Two sharpshooters of international gangster Arshdeep Singh's gang have been arrested following a brief exchange of fire with police near Mayur Vihar of east Delhi, officials said on Monday.

According to them, the arrested accused have been identified as Rajpreet Singh (25), and Virender Singh (22) and they were planning to kill Punjabi singer Elly Mangat.

"During the encounter, five rounds of bullet were fired by the accused, of which two hit the bullet-proof jacket of a police staffer.

"In retaliation, the police team fired six rounds. During this exchange of fire, one of the accused, Virender Singh, sustained gunshot injury on his right leg," a senior police officer said, adding that both the accused were sent to LBS hospital for treatment after the encounter.

Two revolvers, 13 live cartridges a hand grenade and a stolen motorcycle were seized from them, police said. An FIR for an attempt to murder and under the Explosive Substances Act and the Arms Act have been registered against the accused.

"Based on the disclosure made by the accused, a raid was conducted at Dairy Skaner in Gautam Buddh Nagar of Uttar Pradesh and another associate, identified as Sachin Bhati, suspected to be having a huge cache of arms, was apprehended," police said in a statement.

The senior police officer said that during interrogation, the accused admitted that they were tasked by Arshdeep Singh to kill singer Elly Mangat.

They attempted the assassination in October in Punjab's Bhatinda but failed as Mangat was not available at home, the police officer added.