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2 men linked to UK terror group held, grenades, pistols recovered
AMRITSAR Police on Monday busted a terror module allegedly being operated by an UK-based entity with the arrest of two of its members at a checkpoint near Gharinda village in Amritsar
AMRITSAR
Police on Monday busted a terror module allegedly being operated by an UK-based entity with the arrest of two of its members at a checkpoint near Gharinda village in Amritsar.
Police have also recovered two hand grenades and as many fully-loaded pistols of .9mm. The arrest of the accused, identified as Amritpal Singh and Sammy of Amritsar, has averted a possible terrorist attack on or around Independence Day, said police in a statement.
This comes days after the recovery of an improvised explosive device (IED) concealed in a tiffin box along with five hand grenades and 100 rounds of 9 mm pistol from a village in Amritsar.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP-Amritsar rural) Gulneet Singh Khurana said: “A barricade was set up near Gharinda on Sunday night. During the midnight, the accused, who were on a motorcycle, were questioned and searched on the basis of suspicion. Following this, a pistol was recovered from one of the two accused. On quizzing, the accused told us that they were on their way to collect some arms and ammunition from near the border.”
He said: “At the instance of the accused, a pistol and two hand grenades were recovered from Rajatal village situated along the barbed wire fence. The consignment was concealed underground.”
“It is most likely that the consignment was smuggled from across the border. We are yet to investigate if the consignment was dropped by a drone or smuggled by using other methods,” the SSP said.
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said the duo was operating on the directions of UK-based terrorist Gurpreet Singh Khalsa, who was also an accused in Ludhiana Shingar Cinema bomb blast case. Khalsa was, however, acquitted in the blast case by a Ludhiana court in 2014. Police sources said Khalsa flew to the UK in 2017.
A senior police official, who didn’t wish to be named, said: “Khalsa and Amritpal Singh used to meet in Ludhiana during a movement of Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa in 2015. Khalsa come to limelight for his hunger strike as a form of peaceful protest against illegal and prolonged detention of political prisoners.”
Police said Gurpreet had been working as a property dealer while Sammy works as a supervisor in a private company.
A case under relevant sections of the Arms Act, and the Explosive Substance (Amendment) Act 2001, has been registered at Gharinda Police Station in Amritsar, said an official spokesperson.
