Narco-terror module’s operative held with tiffin bomb, AK rifles from Amritsar

DGP said the arrested man was wanted by the state police and Central Enforcement Agencies in at least five criminal cases, including one, where 5 AK-47 assault rifles were seized.

Police on Tuesday busted Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI-backed narco-terror module, with the arrest of its operative ahead of the festival season.

Investigations in the case are on, and more recoveries of arms and explosives are expected soon. (Getty Images)

With the arrest of the accused, police have also recovered one RDX loaded tiffin box fabricated into an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or tiffin bomb, two sophisticated AK-56 assault rifles along with two magazines and 30 live cartridges, one .30 bore pistol along with 6 live cartridges and 2 kilograms heroin. Some cash was also recovered.

The arrested accused, Yograj Singh alias Yog, resident of Village Rajoke in Tarn Taran, was working for the smuggling of drugs, arms, ammunition and explosives at the behest of his two handlers—Canada based gangster Lakhbir Singh Landa and Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist Harvinder Singh alias Rinda—from across the border, police said, adding that Italy-based gangster Harpreet Singh alias Happy is also one of the members of the module.

Director general of police (DGP), Gaurav Yadav said the arrested man was wanted by the state police and Central Enforcement Agencies in at least five criminal cases, including the one wherein five AK-47 assault rifles were seized in Tarn Taran in September 2019.

He said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the cross-border operations of arms-explosives-drugs smuggling was mainly handled by Yograj on the directions of terrorists/gangsters Landa, Rinda and Happy, and jailed smuggler Gurpavitar alias Sai of Lakhna, Tarn Taran. Yograj had been active in recovery and further delivery of consignments of arms and drugs at a large scale, he added.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amritsar Rural, Swapan Sharma said that the Police has made a major strike in exposing members of Landa-Rinda terror module. In the present module, the Police have managed to identify five operatives of the gang and manhunt has been launched to nab them, he added. He said that further investigations are on, and more recoveries of arms and explosives are expected soon. Meanwhile, a case under Sections (21/27-A/29/61/85) of the NDPS Act and Sections (25/54/59) of Arms Act have been filed at Ramdas police station in Amritsar Rural.