E-Paper
UAPA charges to be added in Ambala explosives recovery case
Police is set to add charges under relevant sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Ambala superintendent of police Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said on Monday
Almost three months after three live hand-grenades and an improvised explosive device (IED) were allegedly recovered along the Ambala-Chandigarh highway in Sadhopur village on the Haryana-Punjab border, the Ambala Police is set to add charges under relevant sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), superintendent of police Jashandeep Singh Randhawa said on Monday.
This comes after a SIT, headed by additional superintendent of police Pooja Dabla, completed a three-day remand of Gurpreet alias Gopi, 27, on Monday and similar custody of Akashdeep alias Akash, 21, and Amandeep, 29, ended on Saturday. They have reportedly disclosed to have worked for their handler Harvinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda, a Pakistan-based gangster-terrorist. All are natives of Ferozepur district.
While Gopi, the purported mastermind, was held along with his brother Amandeep and two others with heavy explosives in an Innova in Karnal last month, Akash was arrested by Punjab Police with his accomplice from their respective villages in connection with the case, now transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Detailing the revelations, Randhawa told the reporters, “Gopi along with the duo were tasked to keep three live hand grenades, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and ₹50,000 cash by Rinda on March 14 or 15. Gopi is a history-sheeter, who met one Rajbeer in a jail, who introduced him to Rinda and started working for him. As per the case files, the explosives were received from across the border through drones and received at the village of Akashdeep’s maternal grandmother, near the International Border in Ferozepur.”
A statement quoting Randhawa said that as per their modus operandi, the latitude and longitude coordinates and a video of the delivered consignment were sent to the handler for the benefit of the receiver and in this case they were told to deliver it at a milestone displaying Ambala at 12 kilometres.
The top cop told the HT that the suspected terrorists were told to deliver the explosives at Drive-in 22 resort under the limits of Mohali’s Lalru, while the recoveries were made at an empty plot next to Maharishi Markandeshwar University that falls in Ambala.
However, both are a couple of kilometres apart on either side of the highway and the latter could have been a safest option, investigators believe.
“We are also investigating how the location changed. They told us that ₹50,000 was also kept for the receiver, but the amount was not found at our recovery site. A financial probe to check their bank accounts is also underway. We are also trying to identify the receiver of the explosives,” Randhawa added.
The explosives seized on March 20 were defused by a bomb disposal squad under a controlled environment in the abandoned area. Initially, a case under the Explosive Substances Act was registered at Baldev Nagar police station.
Officials from central teams, including NIA, National Security Guards (NSG) and others, along with senior cops from Punjab Police had also visited the site the next day.
