Arrest of ISI-backed terrorists prevented major terror attack: Punjab DGP
Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 May, 2022 10:01 AM
Chandigarh, May 5 (IANS) Describing the arrest of four Pakistan's ISI-backed terrorists and preventing a major terror attack as a well coordinated operation, Punjab Police on Thursday said they successfully averted a possible terrorist attack.
However, police officials refuted claims of attempts by the ISI to revive terrorism in the state, saying such acts were part of its nefarious designs.
The arrested accused were identified as Gurpreet Singh, Amandeep Singh and Parminder Singh, residents of Vinjoke village in Zira, Ferozepur; and Bhupinder Singh of Bhatian village in Ludhiana.
They were arrested at Karnal in Haryana by the state police following inputs from the Punjab police.
Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab V.K. Bhawra told the media here that a Central agency earlier shared an input that some suspects, who may be carrying explosive material and weapons are moving in the border districts of Fazilka and Ferozepur.
Subsequent to this input, police teams led by Commandant Harkamalpreet Singh Khakh and SHO (Fazilka) Satinderdeep Singh Brar along with teams from the Central agency were on a manhunt on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday to nab these suspects, he said.
The teams had jointly identified suspected locations in the districts of Ferozepur, Fazilka, Faridkot and SAS Nagar.
The DGP said the suspects were found to be moving in the area of Ferozepur and later they started going in a white Innova vehicle DL1VB7869 towards Ludhiana.
"The suspects took the national highway and started moving towards Ambala, when acting promptly, Punjab Police shared the development with Haryana Police, which managed to intercept the vehicle in Karnal and arrested the accused persons with IEDs," the DGP told IANS.
During preliminary interrogation, the accused have revealed that they were working for Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist Harwinder Singh, alias Rinda.
Rinda, a notorious gangster active in Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra and Haryana, is a history-sheeter and is wanted by the Punjab Police in heinous crimes, including murder, contract killing, robbery, extortion and snatching.
Channi expressed regret while participating in a virtual meeting chaired by Prime Minister Modi with Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors/Administrators of states and UTs to review the prevailing Covid situation as well as the ongoing vaccination drive.
Unveiling the first set of plans in his Punjab Model with focus on resurrection of Punjab, Sidhu, in the absence of Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and his Cabinet colleagues, told the media here: "Punjab Model is people's model, an effort to give a roadmap to return power to people."
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that he "personally" feels that alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab had cost the BJP heavily.
India on Tuesday recorded 1,68,063 new Covid cases, taking the total tally to 8,21,446. Although the fresh infections were 6.4 per cent less than Monday when the country logged 1,79,723, the weekly positivity rate has climbed to 8.85 per cent and the daily positivity rate has declined to 10.64 per cent. On the other hand, 4,461 Omicron cases were recorded from 28 states.
Delhi reported a 25 per cent surge in Covid-19 cases after recording 19,166 fresh cases. With this, the infection tally has climbed to 15,68,896. Meanwhile, the city has recorded 17 Covid deaths on the second consecutive day, pushing the death toll to 25,177.
On Monday, after a detailed hearing in the matter, a bench, headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said the court will set up a committee headed by a retired top court judge to probe the PM's security breach and asked both the Centre and Punjab government to not move ahead with their respective inquiries into the matter.
