Ferozepur/ Faridkot: Close on the heels of busting a terror module being run by Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda, Punjab Police on Friday arrested two more operatives from Ferozepur.
Those arrested have been identified as Akashdeep (23), alias Akash, of Peer Kee village near the Ferozepur Cantonment, and Jashanpreet Singh (18), alias Jass, a Class 12 student of Faridkot. Police said the two were also in touch with Rinda.
Jashandeep is cousin of Amandeep Singh and Gurpreet Singh of Vinjoke village in Ferozepur district, who were among the four terror suspects arrested in Karnal.
In his release, Ferozepur SSP Charanjit Singh said that on the disclosures of four accused arrested in Haryana, Punjab Police had been continuously conducting raids to apprehend the other members of the module.
He said that the state special operation cell (SSOC), Fazilka, along with district police, Ferozepur, arrested these two operatives when they were trying to flee from Ferozepur in their Mahindra Scorpio SUV following the arrest of their four accomplices in Karnal.
Confess to their links with terror suspect
During interrogation, they confessed to their links with Gurpreet, said the police.
Jashandeep father is a driver with the health department at Faridkot,” said a police official.
“Jashandeep visited Hazur Sahib in Nanded last month along with his cousins. I have no idea what they were up to, but I am sure that my son is not involved in any crime... he is just a kid and was preparing for his Class 12 exams. Police picked him up without informing us. Both his cousins were continuously using his phone during their trip to Hazur Sahib, so they must have done something but I am not aware of that right now,” said Jashandeep’s father Boota Singh
{{/usCountry}}“Jashandeep visited Hazur Sahib in Nanded last month along with his cousins. I have no idea what they were up to, but I am sure that my son is not involved in any crime... he is just a kid and was preparing for his Class 12 exams. Police picked him up without informing us. Both his cousins were continuously using his phone during their trip to Hazur Sahib, so they must have done something but I am not aware of that right now,” said Jashandeep’s father Boota Singh
{{/usCountry}}It is learnt that in a joint operation, the CIA staff teams of Faridkot and Ferozepur rounded up Jashandeep from his residence at the Faridkot civil hospital on Thursday morning before the arrest of four terror suspects from Karnal.
Sent to 5-day police remand
A case has been registered against Akashdeep and Jashandeep in Ferozepur Cantt police station under relevant sections of the UAP (A) Act, Explosive act and Arms Act. Both arrested accused were produced before the magistrate and taken on five-day police remand for further investigation, said the police.
Four accused persons, identified as Gurpreet Singh, Amandeep Singh and Parminder Singh, trio residents of village Vinjoke in Zira, Ferozepur; and Bhupinder Singh of Bhatian village in Ludhiana, were arrested with recovery of three IEDs packed in a metallic case (2.5 kg each) and one pistol, from Karnal by the Haryana Police following the inputs from the Punjab Police on Thursday.
The SSP said that the police have also brought gangster Rajvir Singh, alias Raja, who had introduced Gurpreet to Rinda, on a production warrant from Bathinda jail. Raja is a hardcore criminal having dozens of criminal cases registered against him.
Preliminary investigations carried out so far have revealed that both operatives were directly involved in Thursday’s busted module, he said, adding that they had received several consignments sent by Pakistan intelligence agency ISI and Pak-based pro-Khalistan terrorist groups and further delivered it at the behest of Rinda.
The SSP said that Akash revealed that Rinda had sent explosive consignment through drones and he along with Gurpreet received it in his maternal grandmother’s village and placed these on the locations sent by Rinda.