Four Punjab-based terror suspects caught with explosives in Karnal

Terror suspects from Ferozepur and Ludhiana were in touch with Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Harvinder Singh, alias Rinda, and were carrying the consignment to Telangana

Four Punjab-based terror suspects were arrested with explosives, arms and ammunition at Bastara toll plaza in Karnal district on the Ambala-Delhi national highway on Thursday morning.

The Toyota Innova was taken to the Madhuban police station in Karnal district, where it was inspected with the help of a robot. The police recovered a pistol, 30 cartridges and three containers of explosives weighing 2.5 kg each and ₹1.3 lakh from the SUV. (ANI Photo)

Karnal superintendent of police Ganga Ram Punia said Haryana Police acted on a tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau and intercepted the terror suspects’ sports utility vehicle at the toll plaza around 5am.

The police recovered three containers of explosives weighing 2.5 kg each, a pistol, 30 cartridges and ₹1.3 lakh from the white Toyota Innova that bore a Delhi registration number.

According to forensic experts, the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) weighing around 7.5 kg were fixed in iron boxes filled with iron nails. They said each box carried a timer, a detonator and a battery. The detonator and timer were connected with the IEDs but they were not power connected yet.

The accused were identified as Gurpreet Singh, his brother Amandeep Singh and Parminder Singh, all from Ferozepur, and Bhupinder Singh of Ludhiana district.

The four terror suspects in police custody in Karnal district on Thursday. (HT Photo)

Drone from Pakistan dropped explosives

Punia said Gurpreet led the gang and was in touch with Pakistan-based gangster-turned-Khalistani terrorist Harvinder Singh, alias Rinda, who had provided them the explosives with the help of a drone in Ferozepur. The SP said Rinda’s aide Rajbir Singh was also in touch with Gurpreet for the past nine months.

During interrogation, the accused admitted that they had got the explosives and arms from Pakistan with the help of a drone and they were taking the consignment to a destination at Adilabad in Telangana.

They told the police that this was their third consignment. They had delivered a consignment at Nanded town of Maharashtra earlier.

They were booked under the Explosives Substances Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Indian Penal Code.

Bomb disposal squad called; SUV inspected with robot

A bomb disposal squad was called to defuse the explosives, while the police took possession of the arms.

The accused were taken into custody, while the SUV was sent to the Madhuban police station, where it was inspected with the help of a robot.

Punjab tipped off Haryana of terror suspects

Soon after four terror suspects were caught, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that it is not yet clear if the accused are terrorists or pawns of terror organisations. “The ammunition recovered is illegal and the people detained are also associated with some terror organisation. We do not know yet that they themselves are terrorists or they are being used to transport explosives from one place to another,” Khattar said.

“Based on the information from Punjab, we caught the vehicle at the Bastara toll plaza in which some ammunition and cash were recovered. Their intentions will be known only after an investigation. The information as of now is that the incident is not based in Haryana, they were caught with explosives as they were transiting via Haryana,” he said.