Gumtala police post attack: Pak-backed terror module busted; 2 held

A hand grenade and two sophisticated pistols along with ammunition were recovered from their possession

Nearly two weeks after an explosion rocked Amritsar’s Gumtala police post, the state special operation cell (SSOC) claimed to have busted a Pakistan-ISI backed narco terror-module, being operated by US-based terrorist Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia and notorious drug smuggler Sarwan Bhola, with the arrest of two members.

Weapons recovered from the accused. (Sourced)

The accused have been identified as Bagga Singh of Sirsa, Haryana, and Puskaran Singh alias Sagar of Amritsar.

Police teams have also recovered a hand grenade and two sophisticated pistols along with ammunition from their possession.

While police had initially maintained that the explosion was a result of a car radiator going off, Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday said a hand grenade had been lobbed at the police post.

Yadav said investigations have revealed that the accused Bagga Singh is a relative of Sarwan Bhola, the brother of notorious smuggler Ranjit Singh alias Cheeta, who is currently lodged in Bathinda jail in a 532 kg heroin recovery case. Pertinently, Bhola is also wanted in a 532 kg heroin recovery case and carries a ₹2 lakh reward announced by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

The DGP said Bhola had got the two accused in touch with Happy Passia and Harvinder Rinda.

The DGP said investigations are on to establish forward and backward linkages in this case and unveil the entire terror module.

AIG, SSOC Amritsar, Sukhminder Singh Mann said that after the attack on Gumtala police post, police teams had launched an intelligence operation and arrested Bagga Singh from Sirsa in Haryana and Pushkaran Singh from Amritsar area, leading to recovery of explosives and weapons.