TARN TARAN: In the further investigation into the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on the Sarhali police station, Tarn Taran police on Tuesday busted a sub-module that was being operated from the Philippines on the instructions of Canada-based gangster-turned-terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa.
The police have also arrested three members of the sub-module and recovered a loaded RPG and a rocket launcher buried along the Beas bank.
Police claimed that the sub-module was being handled by Yadwinder Singh from the Philippines on Landa’s instructions.
According to police, Landa is the main conspirator of RPG attacks on the Sarhali police station and the Punjab Police’s intelligence headquarters in Mohali. He is wanted by Punjab Police in around 40 criminal cases, including the smuggling of explosives from Pakistan and targeted killings.
Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav identified the arrested persons as Kulbir Singh, Hira Singh, and Davinder Singh, all residents of the village Chambal Kalan in Tarn Taran. The police have also nominated accused Yadwinder Singh in this case, he added.
“With the recovery of a ready-to-use fresh RPG, the Punjab Police have successfully thwarted another possible terrorist attack aimed at disturbing the peace and harmony in the state,” said the DGP.
{{/usCountry}}“With the recovery of a ready-to-use fresh RPG, the Punjab Police have successfully thwarted another possible terrorist attack aimed at disturbing the peace and harmony in the state,” said the DGP.
{{/usCountry}}The development came days after the arrest of seven persons, including the two juveniles who carried out the terror attack at Sirhali Police Station’s building in Tarn Taran at about 11.18 pm on December 9.
Yadav said that in an intelligence-led operation, Tarn Taran Police laid a nakabandi at bridge Billianwala and arrested two bike-borne persons, identified as Kulbir Singh and Hira Singh, in connection with the Sirhali RPG attack.
Divulging more details, Tarn Taran senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurmeet Singh Chauhan said that during interrogation, the accused revealed that they had provided a loaded RPG on the day of the attack on Sirhali Police Station on the instructions of Yadwinder Singh, presently residing in Manila, Philippines. Accused Yadwinder had also sent a tutorial video on how to launch an RPG to show it to juveniles, who fired the RPG at the police station, he said.
During further questioning, the accused disclosed that they along with another accused Davinder Singh had buried another RPG on the instructions of Yadwinder Singh, said the SSP. The SSP added that the RPG, along with a rocket launcher, was recovered from a location pinpointed by the accused on the banks of Beas in village Keedian in Tarn Taran.
He said that the police teams have also arrested accused Davinder Singh, who disclosed that they were hatching a conspiracy to carry out another terrorist attack in the state on the instructions of Yadwinder Singh and Landa. The police are further investigating the backward and forward linkages in this case, and more recoveries and arrests are expected soon, he added.
Meanwhile, Tarn Taran Police have called army authorities and forensic teams to examine the RPG and rocket launcher.