A key operative of Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Rinda, who was supplying weapons to the associates of a terror outfit to carry out "sensational crimes" in Punjab, has been arrested, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Friday.

The Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) of the Punjab Police in a joint operation with Central Agencies, arrested Kailash Khichan,  a key operative of Pak-based terrorist Harvinder Singh alias Rinda and USA-based Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia from village Lohawat in district Phalodi of Rajasthan, Yadav said.

Khichan, was wanted in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case registered in Fazilka in September 2023. Apart from this, the accused has a criminal history with a number of criminal cases pertaining to Extortion, NDPS Act and Arms Act registered against him in Punjab and Rajasthan.

The DGP said that following the name of accused Khichan figuring in various terrorist modules busted by the Punjab Police in recent past, teams of AGTF headed by ADGP Promod Ban under the supervision of AIG Sandeep Goel and led by DSP Bikramjit Singh Brar, managed to track the location of the accused in Rajasthan and arrested him from village Lohawat in district Phalodi of Rajasthan with the help of Central Agencies.

 “Police teams have also recovered one .30 calibre Chinese pistol along with eight live cartridges from the possession of the accused Khichan,” he said.

The DGP said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused Khichan, on the directions of terrorist Rinda, was supplying weapons to the associates of terrorist outfit Babbar Khalistan International (BKI) to carry out sensational crimes in the State.