High alert in Punjab after Pakistan-backed terror module gets busted
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has directed the police to be on high alert after a Pakistan-backed terror module was busted in the state. Reportedly, the police arrested four ISI-backed terrorists who tried to blow up an oil tanker using IED last month. This was the fourth case of a Pakistan-backed terror module busted in Punjab in the last 40 days.
Amarinder Singh has ordered Punjab Director-General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta to ensure high-level security arrangements in busy marketplaces and at all sensitive installations across the state. The high alert was issued to thwart any attempts by terror groups, keeping in mind the reopening of schools and colleges, festival season, and the upcoming Assembly polls, according to India Today.
On Wednesday, DGP Dinkar Gupta said two Pakistan-based terrorists were identified to be behind the terror module. One has been identified as a Pakistani intelligence officer Qasim, while another is Lakhbir Singh Rode alias Baba, the chief of Pakistan-based International Sikh Youth Federation. Both Qasim and Rode were found to be in touch with those arrested in many terror module-related cases, the police said.
The police Wednesday arrested four persons—Rubal Singh, Vicky Bhutti, Malkeet Singh, and Gurpreet Singh—in connection with the tanker IED blast case. According to the police, Rubal and Vicky Bhutti were in touch with Qasim, who also tasked the four accused to blast the tanker. Rode and Qasim had allegedly promised to transfer over Rs. 2 lakh to the terrorist module for executing the blast.
Meanwhile, the Punjab Police has booked Rode, Qasim, and other arrested operatives in the case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, and Explosive Substances (Amendment) Act 2001. Notably, both Qasim and Rode are currently in Pakistan.
The Punjab Police has busted three other terrorist modules since August. On August 8, the police had recovered a sophisticated tiffin box with an IED from Daleke village in Amritsar (Rural). Around August 15, the police had arrested two militants and recovered weapons, hand grenades, etc. On August 20, the Kapurthala Police recovered one tiffin bomb IED and many other explosives from two persons.
On September 7, the Ferozepur Police arrested one Darvesh Singh. During interrogation, Singh revealed that he was in contact with Rode and had collected consignments of weapons, tiffin bomb IEDs, RDX, and heroin dropped across the border in Ferozepur district through drones.
