High alert was sounded in Punjab on Wednesday after the arrest of four more members allegedly of an ISI-backed terrorist module involved in a bid to blow up an oil tanker with ‘IED tiffin bomb’ the previous month, making it the fourth case of a Pakistani terror module being busted in the state in the past 40 days.
Alarmed, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh ordered high alert in the State.
The state Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said that the two Pak-based terrorists — including a Pakistani Intelligence Officer — have been identified and nominated in the case (FIR no 260 dated August 11, 2021, Ajnala police station), in which one person was arrested earlier.
The Chief Minister, taking a serious note of the increased attempts by terror groups to disturb Punjab’s peace, directed the state police to be on high alert, particularly in view of schools and educational institutions reopening, as well as the festival season and the Assembly polls ahead.
The state police chief have been asked to ensure high level of security arrangements to be put in place, especially in busy places, such as markets etc, as well as at sensitive installations across the State.
Sharing details of the arrests, the DGP identified Pak-based ISYF chief Lakhbir Singh and Qasim, a resident of Pakistan, and Lakhbir Singh Rode alias Baba, a native of village Rode, PS Samalsar, Moga district, who is currently based in Pakistan, as being behind the terror module.
“Those arrested yesterday have been identified as Rubal Singh, Vicky Bhutti, Malkeet Singh, and Gurpreet Singh alia Gopi. While Rubal, also wanted in a murder case of September 1, 2021, was picked up from Ambala around 5 pm yesterday, the other three were nabbed from their villages in Ajnala, Amritsar. Their fifth accomplice, Gurmukh Brar, was arrested earlier by Kapurthala Police, on August 20,” he said.
The DGP said that the Pakistani intelligence officer, identified as Qasim, and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) chief Rode had promised to transfer over Rs two lakh to the terrorist module for carrying out the blast. Investigations into the financial aspects are also being carried out to unravel the money trail, he added.
Gupta said that Rubal and Vicky Bhutti were in touch with Qasim, who was working in close collaboration with Rode. “Rode and Qasim had reportedly tasked the four members of a terrorist module to blast an Oil Tanker for causing maximum damage to the people and property,” he added.
TIFFIN BOMB AIMED AT CREATING BIG EXPLOSION, CAUSE MAX DAMAGE
The terror attempt was made on August 8, 2021, when, at about 11:30 pm, the Ajnala police received information that an Oil Tanker (PB-02 CR 5926) parked at Sharma Filling Station Ajnala, located on the Amritsar-Ajnala road near Bhakha Tara Singh village, had caught fire. The fire was controlled by a fire brigade and FIR no 260 was registered at Ajnala police station on the statement of Ashwani Kumar Sharma of Ajnala.
“Preliminary investigations have revealed that Gurmukh had placed the tiffin IED at Hambowal on Jalandhar-Amritsar highway, from where, on August 6, Vicky, Malkeet and Gurpreet picked it up on the directions of Rode and Qasim. The trio hid the bomb near a canal in the Rajasansi area. A pen-drive was attached with the Tiffin box, which contained an Instruction Manual in the shape of the video with detailed steps on how to operate the Tiffin Bomb IED. After retrieval of the Tiffin Bomb IED, Vicky and Rubal were tasked by Rode to place the Tiffin Bomb on an Oil tanker to create a big explosion and cause maximum damage,” he said.
On August 8, these terrorist operatives carried out recce of Sharma Filling Station during the day and placed the IED at about 11 pm, with the timer of the Tiffin Bomb IED set to eight minutes. The blast took place at about 11:30 pm, leading to the fire in the tank of the Oil Tanker.
All the five arrested operatives, along with Rode and Qasim, have been booked in FIR no 260 dated August 11, 2021, registered under sections 436, 427 of the IPC, 13, 16, 18, 18 B, 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and Section 3, 4, 5 of Explosive Substances (Amendment) Act, 2001.
The arrest is the fourth major Pak-backed terror module busted by Punjab Police since August.
Notably, on August 8, Amritsar (Rural) Police had recovered a sophisticated Tiffin bomb IED from Daleke village, Lopoke police station. The Tiffin bomb IED contained about two-three kg RDX and had three different trigger mechanisms, including switch, magnetic, and spring for operational flexibility.
Around August 15, the police had arrested two militants, followed by the recovery of a cache of weapons, hand grenades etc.
Another terror module was busted on August 20, 2021, when Kapurthala police recovered one Tiffin bomb IED besides five hand grenades, one box of detonators, two tubes suspected to contain RDX, one .30 bore Pistol, four Glock Pistol magazines, and one high explosive wire from Gurmukh Singh Rode and Gagandeep Singh.
Recently, on September 7, Ferozepur Police arrested one Darvesh Singh of Ferozepur who disclosed that he had been in constant contact with Lakhbir Singh Rode and had collected consignments of weapons, Tiffin bomb IEDs, RDX and heroin, which had been dropped over drones from across the border in Ferozepur district. Darvesh Singh has been arrested in a criminal case registered at Mamdot police station under various sections of NDPS Act, Explosives Substances Act, and UA (P) Act.