Amritsar, July 29: The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), an intelligence wing of the Punjab Police, arrested five people on Wednesday and recovered two AK-47 rifles and a huge quantity of ammunition from them. The police said all five had links with the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a banned terror outfit.
Those arrested are Kulwant Singh, a resident of Varpal village, Gurmukh Singh alias Gana of Pandori Mehma and Jagtar Singh of Thoba village in Amritsar district, Darshan Singh Dhadi of Dhaliwal and Pal Singh of Dhandowal village in Jalandhar.
The seizure of two AK-47 rifles along with five magazines and 420 live cartridges is a cause for worry, according to security agencies.
The police said Pal Singh had gone to Pakistan in 1989 on a pilgrim visa, adding that he went to France in 1998 and returned to India in 2004. “After returning from France, he came in contact with certain radical leaders and got involved in terror activities,” said Superintendent of Police (SP), SSOC, Mandeep Singh.
A case under various sections of the Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act has been registered against the five. The SP said Kulwant, who was known to Pal Singh, had received the consignment of RDX and weapons from Jagtar and later handed it over to one Narain Singh Chaura, who is wanted in many cases. They had been trying to revive terrorism in the state, said an officer.
“The RDX used in the Amritsar car bomb case and the weapons recovered from Sukhdev Singh Chhira, an accused in the case, were also provided by Chaura. The Punjab Police are already on his lookout and he is absconding,” he said.
“The Punjab Police have announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for his arrest. Chaura was involved in Burial jailbreak case too, that led to the escape of Jagtar Singh Tara, Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora a few years ago,” added the officer.
The police said Pal Singh was a close associate of Chaura and he met various terrorists based in Pakistan and abroad. “Pal confessed that he along with Kulwant went to Chittorgarh (Rajasthan) in 2009 to recce the place from where explosives used in mining of marble can be looted to carry out blasts in Punjab,” said a senior officer.
—-Agencies