Chandigarh, Aug 9 (IANS) In a major breakthrough in the killing of Shaurya Chakra awardee Balwinder Singh Sandhu in 2020, Punjab Police on Tuesday arrested key accused Gurwinder Singh, a.k.a. Baba, from Tarn Taran.
His two aides -- Sandeep Singh and Gurpreet Singh -- were also arrested, They were allegedly involved in cross-border smuggling of narcotics and weapons.
The police have also recovered one hand-grenade, one RDX-IED, two .30 bore pistols, besides magazines and 13 cartridges, 635 gm heroin, 100 gm opium, Rs 36.90 lakh drug money, and one Mitsubishi Lancer car from their possession.
Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said accused Gurwinder Singh, who was wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), had played a key role in the killing of Sandhu by providing weapons to shooters.
A probe revealed that Gurwinder is a close associate of gangsters Sukhpreet Singh and Sukhmeetpal Singh.
Preliminary investigations indicated that the recovered explosives and arms and ammunition were to be used to disrupt peace and harmony and create a sense of terror in the state on or before Independence Day, said the DGP.
Inspector General of Police (Ferozepur Range) Jaskaran Singh said following inputs that Gurwinder Baba with his aide Sandeep was on the way to Khadoor Sahib, the Tarn Taran police had intercepted their car and managed to arrest them.
SSP Ranjit Singh Dhillon said the arrests are likely to lead to disclosures of cross-border smuggling modules.
Two motorcycle-borne assailants shot dead Shaurya Chakra awardee Sandhu at his residence in Bhikhiwind in the border district of Tarn Taran in October 2020.
Almost a year after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case in connection with the blast at a Kabul gurdwara in which 27 people, including an Indian Sikh was killed, a team of anti-terror probe agency was yet to visit the country, and now with the Taliban takeover, this has been "delayed indefinitely".
Rahul Gandhi on Friday released a video statement slamming Twitter for blocking his account and alleged that Twitter was taking sides in the politics of the country.
Aside from India where the Delta variant was first detected, the Philippines also banned travellers from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
There will be a gradual increase in rainfall activity over the Northeast, peninsular and adjoining east central India from August 15 while there will be subdued rainfall very likely over the rest of the country during the next five days, IMD said in a release.
The Rapid Response Unit of the Wildlife SOS has rescued an Indian rat snake from the head office of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) located on the Mall Road here.
The official informed that the high-mast flags have already been erected at three locations -- East Kidwai Nagar, East Vinod Nagar and Rani Bagh. The remaining two in Kalkaji and Dwarka will also be erected by August 15.
