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Punjab Police arrest 3 linked to Pak-based terror module
Three accused arrested near Bathinda were in touch with three inmates of Sangrur jail and were conspiring to target religious figures, say police; 8 weapons, 9 magazines and 30 cartridges recovered
The counter-intelligence team of Punjab Police have arrested three men in Bathinda who were linked to a Pakistan-based terror module.
Rajbhupinder Singh, Raman Kumar and Jagjit Singh were in touch with three persons accused of terror-related charges lodged in Sangrur jail and they were conspiring to target unnamed religious figures.
State police chief Gaurav Yadav took to X to share that eight weapons, nine magazines and 30 cartridges were recovered from the accused. Yadav said the three arrested men were linked to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-controlled terror modules in Pakistan.
“Further investigation is on to establish the forward and backward linkages,” he said.
According to the first information report (FIR) at the cantonment police station, the trio was arrested near Gobindpura village on the periphery of Bathinda city on Tuesday afternoon.
Assistant inspector general of police (AIG) of the state counter intelligence Avneet Kaur Sidhu said as per the preliminary probe, the arrested accused persons had brought weapons from Madhya Pradesh and were tasked to carry out target killings in the state.
“Further investigations are on to unveil linkages in the crime and recovery of more weapons is expected,” she added.
Kulwinder Singh, Harcharan Singh and Sultan Singh, who are in Sangrur jail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act have also been named in the FIR under Sections 115 (abetment of offence punishable with death), 109 (punishment of abetment, if the act abetted, is committed in consequence), 379 (punishment for theft) of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act.
Following a tip-off that the accused were carrying arms and ammunition, a police team was deputed along the Sirhind canal connecting the villages.
Investigators said the accused were travelling from Puhli village towards Bathinda city in an Alto car without a registration number plate.
On checking the car, five .50-bore pistols and three .30-bore pistols were recovered. The accused were using a stolen car, the police said.
Rajbhupinder is a resident of Dikh village in Bathinda, Rama belonged to Guru Harsahai in Ferozepur, while Jagjit is from Faridkot’s Dhilwan Khurd village.
