Amidst the heightened security in the state to ensure peaceful celebrations of Independence Day as mandated by Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Counter Intelligence (CI) Ferozepur has successfully foiled a major terror plot being orchestrated by Pak-ISI backed terrorist Harwinder Rinda with the arrest of two operatives of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terror module, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Thursday.
Those arrested have been identified as Harpreet Singh alias Preet, a resident of village Bhullar in Tarn Taran, and Gulshan Singh alias Nandu, a resident of village Rampura in Amritsar. Police teams have recovered two 86P hand grenades and one 9MM pistol along with five live cartridges from their possession.
The development came on the eve of Independence Day and two days after Punjab Police busted a BKI terror module with the arrest of five operatives, including three juveniles, from Tonk and Jaipur districts of Rajasthan and recovered one 86P hand-grenade and one .30 bore pistol from their possession. DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested accused persons were working under the directions of their foreign-based handlers sitting in UK, USA and Europe.
Probe has also revealed that the arrested accused persons were actively conspiring to target government buildings and police establishments using grenades to disturb the peace and harmony of the border state, he said. The DGP said that further investigations are ongoing to establish forward and backward linkages in this case.
Sharing operation details, AIG CI Ferozepur Gursewak Singh Brar said that following credible human intelligence, teams from CI Ferozepur launched an intelligence operation and arrested suspects, Harpreet Singh alias Preet and Gulshan Singh alias Nandu, from Talwandi Bhai in Ferozepur. The AIG said that Police have obtained remand of the accused persons, and further interrogation is expected to reveal more details regarding their contacts within and outside the country and their intended targets.
In this regard, a case FIR under section 25 of the Arms Act and sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act has been registered at Police Station SSOC Fazilka.