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Pilibhit encounter: Police probing hotel stay of ‘militants’, extortion claims
The first FIR was registered in connection with the police encounter of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) operatives Varinder Singh alias Ravi, Gurwinder Singh, and Jashanpreet Singh alias Partap Singh in Pilibhit’s Puranpur area on December 23, and arms and ammunitions recovered from them.
As many as five criminal cases had been registered in connection with the killing of three alleged militants of a pro-Khalistan group in Pilibhit. More details regarding their intention to visit the district surfaced during the probe, said senior police officials on Monday.
The first FIR was registered in connection with the police encounter of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) operatives Varinder Singh alias Ravi, Gurwinder Singh, and Jashanpreet Singh alias Partap Singh in Pilibhit’s Puranpur area on December 23, and arms and ammunitions recovered from them.
The trio, who were killed in retaliatory firing by U.P. and Punjab police teams, were accused of attacking a police outpost in Gurdaspur of Punjab with grenades on December 18.
On December 24, Puranpur police outpost in-charge Amit Kumar lodged an FIR against the three alleged militants and two locals, Jaspal Singh alias Sunny and Manoj, who booked a hotel room near the Puranpur highway using fake identity cards for the former.
Sunny was caught and jailed on Friday after he confessed to having booked the hotel room after getting a call from Kulbir Singh Sidhu, an alleged militant from Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) group who is wanted in the murder of VHP leader Vikas Prabhakar in Rupnagar of Punjab.
On December 25, the cyber cell of Pilibhit police lodged another FIR against Canada-based pro-Khalistan militant Gurpatwant Singh Pannun after he allegedly threatened to spread terror during Mahakumbh in Prayagraj. The threat came after the UP and the Punjab Police, in a joint operation, gunned down the three alleged KZF terrorists.
On December 26, one Ompal Singh of Majhara Farms under Niuria police station limits of Pilibhit, lodged an FIR against three masked men for robbing his mobile phone at gunpoint. He alleged that the masked men claimed to be the accomplices of the three killed militants.
On December 28, a local trader, Malkeet Singh, lodged a complaint against Sidhu and two others who, allegedly, tried to extort him for money, said senior police officials. The trader claimed that the ‘militants’ might have come to Puranpur to target him as he paid no heed to the multiple extortion calls made to him since September. Pilibhit SP Avinash Pandey said an FIR against the complaint was lodged on Saturday and police were probing the matter.
