Punjab Police on Sunday claimed to have thwarted yet another possible terrorist attack, a day ahead of Independence Day, by busting a Pak-ISI backed terrorist module with the arrest of four members associated with Canada-based gangsters.
The accused were associated with Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dala and Austraila-based gangster Gurjant Singh alias Janta. They were apprehended from Delhi during the intelligence-led operation, carried out by the Counter-Intelligence unit of Punjab Police with the help of Delhi Police.
The Police have also recovered three hand-grenades (P-86), one IED, and two 9 mm pistols along with 40 live cartridges from the possession of arrested persons, said Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Sunday, adding that this is the third such module of cross-border smuggling of arms and explosives that has been busted by the Punjab Police 2in less than a week. Those arrested have been identified as Deepak Sharma of Moga; Sandeep Singh of Ferozepur; Sunny Dagar of Delhi; and Vipin Jakhar of New Delhi, where all of them were taking shelter.
DGP said that following reliable inputs that associates of Arsh Dala are being harboured by Vipin Jakhar at his accommodation in Goyla Khurd village in New Delhi, teams of Punjab Police's SSOC Mohali along with Dwarka Police conducted a raid at their premises on Friday, and managed to arrest them after recovering two 9mm pistols (foreign-made) along with 40 live cartridges.
“Working on the leads obtained during the questioning of the arrested persons, the police teams have also recovered one IED and three hand-grenades on Saturday from the locations pinpointed by them in Punjab,” he said, adding that the arrested accused also revealed that they were being tasked by Arsh Dala to execute criminal activities in areas of Delhi and Punjab ahead of Independence day to disrupt the peace and harmony.
The investigations, so far, revealed that Deepak Sharma, who is a history-sheeter and was wanted by the Punjab Police in two cases including of murder of Moga-based Jaswinder Singh alias Jassi, who was killed in March-2022, and another for firing on the house of Panchayat Secretary of Village Dala, Moga in June 2022, said DGP Yadav. He added that the accused Sandeep, who recently came back to India from Dubai, had provided logistic support to Deepak to carry out firing at the house of Panchayat Secretary.
The state police chief said that the accused Sunny Dagar, who is out from jail on parole, is an active member of Neeraj Bawana Gang and Tillu Tajpuriya gang active in Delhi and NCR region and has been facing various cases of heinous crimes including murder, attempt to murder, extortion, theft etc.Sunny Dagar was providing hideouts to Deepak Sharma and Sandeep Singh in Delhi and nearby areas, while accused Vipin Jakhar was providing financial and logistical support to the other arrested and was involved in facilitating the movement of the accused from one hideout to another, he added.
Meanwhile, the Police have procured remand for five days of all the arrested persons after producing them at the local Mohali Court on Saturday.
PROCESS ON TO EXTRADITE GANGSTER ARSH DALA
Canada-based Arsh Dala, a native of Dala village in Moga, is a notorious gangster involved in various criminal activities in Punjab and abroad, and is most wanted by the Punjab Police. His involvement had also emerged in various targeted killings that took place in the border state of Punjab, besides, in cases of supplying militant hardware including RDX, IEDs, AK-47 and other arms and ammunition to modules in the state after getting them imported from Pakistan.
DGP Yadav said that the Punjab Police has initiated the process to extradite him from Canada, and soon, he will be brought to India. Notably, the Red Corner Notice against Arsh Dala has already been issued in May 2022.