In another major terror crackdown, the Punjab Police has busted a terrorist module of the revived Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), backed by a Pakistan and Germany based terror group that was conspiring to unleash a series of terrorist strikes in Punjab or adjoining states.
The police have also seized a huge cache of arms including five AK-47 rifles, pistols, satellite phones and hand grenades.
Given the international links and the ramifications of the conspiracy, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has decided to hand over further investigations in the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to ensure that the entire conspiracy is fully and expeditiously unravelled.
With initial investigations revealing the use of drones to deliver terrorists weapons and communication hardware across the border, the Chief Minister has also urged the Central Government to direct the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Border Security Force (BSF) to launch necessary counter-measures to check any further threat from drones to the border state of Punjab.
The state Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said that the weapons were suspected to have been delivered recently across the Indo-Pak border from Pakistan over drones launched by the Pak establishment, the Pak ISI, and the State-sponsored Jihadi and pro-Khalistani terrorist outfits working under its command.
Gupta said that the large-scale infiltration appeared to have been aimed at scaling terrorism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and the Indian hinterland, in the wake of the recent developments in the Valley.
The operation was based on different inputs gathered from sources that activists of the banned KZF planned to carry out multiple terrorist strikes in J&K, Punjab and other States, he said.
In an operation carried out by Amritsar AIG (Counter Intelligence) Ketan Baliram Patil, along with various Punjab Police teams based in Chandigarh, four module members have been arrested and a large quantity of arms, ammunition, explosives and communication devices, has been seized by the Counter Intelligence Wing of Punjab Police.
Gupta said that the module was backed by Pakistan-based chief of KZF, Ranjeet Singh alias Neeta, and his Germany-based associate Gurmeet Singh alias Bagga alias Doctor, who had re-organized their terrorist group to revive terrorism in Punjab.
With the help of local sleeper cells, they had spotted, radicalized and recruited local members, besides arranging funds and sophisticated weapons from across the border for operationalizing the local module members.
Those arrested have been identified as Balwant Singh alias Baba alias Nihang, Akashdeep Singh alias Akash Randhawa, Harbhajan Singh and Balbir Singh. Both Akashdeep and Baba Balwant Singh have a criminal past with multiple criminal cases against them.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that Maan Singh, currently lodged in Amritsar Jail in an Arms Act and UAPA case, at the behest of his handler Gurmeet Singh alias Bagga, had recruited Akashdeep Singh, when they were lodged together in Amritsar jail.
Recipient of the consignment, Baba Balwant Singh is a member of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist organization, and was earlier arrested in a UAPA and Arms Act case in Mukandpur police station (SBS Nagar), and is presently on bail and facing trial in that case.
A FIR, dated September 22, 2019, has been registered at Police Station State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Amritsar, under UAPA, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, Prisons Act, and various relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
RECOVERY
Altogether five AK-47 rifles (along with 16 magazines and 472 rounds of ammunition), four Chinese made .30 bore Pistols (along with eight magazines and 72 rounds of ammunition), nine hand grenades, five Thuraya satellite phones along with their ancillary equipment, two mobile phones, two wireless sets and Rs 10 lakh Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) have been recovered from them. Further investigations are on to unravel the entire terrorist module.
