Gurdaspur district police has claimed to foil a major attempt to revive terrorism in Punjab by busting a sleeper cell of Khalistan liberation Force (KlF) on Sunday with the arrest of three persons and recovery of sophisticated weapons, including an AK-47 rifle and foreign made small weapons.
Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sukhwant Singh Gill said that the district Police had arrested Sukhjinder Singh, Narinder Pal Singh, and Surinder Singh. “One AK-47 rifle with one magazine and 20 cartridges, one 0.38 bore Smith and Wesson revolver (made in US) with five cartridges and one 0.45 bore Taurus pistol (made in Brazil) with three cartridges have been recovered from them,” he added.
SSP revealed that developing available intelligence and operational leads received from busting of terrorist modules by Amritsar Police and Fatehgarh Sahib Police, Gurdaspur Police had unveiled a terrorist gang armed with sophisticated weapons, tasked by terrorist leaders sitting abroad for specific targeting of a Pathankot-based Shiv Sena (Bal Thakre) leader with the aim of disturbing the hard-earned peace in Punjab.
The terrorists were travelling in a silver Ford-Figo Car when nabbed by a police party. Two motorcycles being used by the gang have also been seized.
An FIR No 83 dated September 15, 2013 under sections 17, 18, 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, sections 120-B, 153-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), section 25 Arms Act has been registered in Police Station Purana Shalla and investigations are being conducted to completely uncover the module and find its linkages and associates, he added.
SSP disclosed that the preliminary questioning of arrested persons has revealed a sinister design to revive terrorism in the state by foreign-based terrorist leaders who have motivated, supported and financed local modules for undertaking spectacular terrorist action by targeted killings of certain persons, with the underlying game-plan of fanning communal fires in the State.
The sleeper cell was being controlled by foreign-based terrorists Harminder Singh alias Mintu and Harmeet Singh alias PhD, he added.
The SSP said that necessary coordination with the Amritsar Commissionerate Police and Fatehgarh Sahib Police was being done for examining the cross-linkages between the three modules recently unearthed and further investigations were in progress.