Juvenile among 4 held for arson attack on Amritsar police post

Giving case details, Amritsar Rural senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kanwalpreet Singh Chahal said unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants had hurled a petrol bomb at the Chamiari police post on the intervening night between July 21 and July 22. No one was injured in the attack

Police have apprehended four accused, including a juvenile, in connection with the arson attack on the Chamiari police post in Amritsar earlier this month.

Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were in contact with an ISI-sponsored handler through social media and received funds to execute the attack.

Those arrested have been identified as Karanbir Singh, alias Gora; and Manideep Singh, both residents of Amritsar’s Harar Khurd village; Pardeep Singh, alias Love, of Gujjarpura, Amritsar; and a juvenile.

Giving case details, Amritsar Rural senior superintendent of police (SSP) Kanwalpreet Singh Chahal said unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants had hurled a petrol bomb at the Chamiari police post on the intervening night between July 21 and July 22. No one was injured in the attack.

“Following the incident, special teams were constituted to crack the case. On the basis of human intelligence and technical inputs, the culprits were identified and further probe resulted in the arrest of the four individuals,” he said.

The SSP said Manideep and Pardeep conducted recce and hatched a plan, whereas Karanbir, along with his juvenile associate, executed the attack. The motorcycle used in the incident has yet to be recovered, he added.

He said preliminary findings also indicated that ISI handlers were allegedly attempting to recruit and radicalise unemployed youth in the 15-25 age group to carry out anti-national activities in the border state.

The DGP said further investigation was underway to trace the backward and forward linkages in this case to identify the entire network, and uncover the funding channels.

An FIR in this regard is already registered at the Ajnala police station under Sections 109 (attempt to murder), 326-B (mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance, etc), 221 (mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance, etc), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 48 (abetment outside India for offence in India), 111 (organised crime), 113 (terrorist act), 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) and 3 (5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.