Punjab Police Nab Five BKI Operatives in Rajasthan, Seize Arms and Ammunition
Punjab Police teams also found one 30 bore pistol and one 86P hand grenade, two live cartridges and two empty shells.
Ankush Pandey
In what Punjab police claimed was a Pakistan ISI-backed terror network, the Punjab Police have arrested five operators, including three minors, from the Rajasthani districts of Tonk and Jaipur, breaking up a Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terror module.
As directed by Pakistan-based BKI agent Harwinder Singh, also known as Rinda, the suspects in a module run by foreign-based handlers Mannu Agwan, Gopi Nawanshehria, and Zeeshan Akhtar were taken into custody by the Counter Intelligence (CI) unit of Jalandhar in a joint operation with SBS Nagar Police, according to Director General of Police, Punjab Gaurav Yadav.
The people who were taken into custody include Sonu Kumar, also known as Kali, who lives in Kala Sanghian village in Kapurthala; Ritik Naroliya, who lives in Didawata village in Jaipur, Rajasthan; and three minors.
Two live cartridges, two empty shells, one.30 bore handgun, and one 86P hand grenade were also found by the police squads. The module recently planned an attack inside a liquor store in SBS Nagar, according to Yadav.
The same module is also suspected of carrying out a grenade strike at a liquor store in SBS Nagar on August 7.
"The accused who were arrested were being given direct instructions by Zeeshan Akhtar, who is based abroad, and BKI mastermind Mannu Agwan, who is closely collaborating with Harwinder Rinda, who is based in Pakistan," he added.
This terror module's intended attacks have been successfully thwarted. He went on to say that the investigation to determine forward and backward links in the case was still ongoing.
In an intelligence-led operation, all five of the accused were taken into custody from locations in Rajasthan's Tonk and Jaipur districts, according to AIG Counter Intelligence, Jalandhar, Navjot Mahal, who provided additional details.
He claimed that the arrested suspect Sonu, also known as Kali, tried to shoot the police party during a follow-up recovery operation. “Accused Sonu alias Kali was shot in self-defence when the police party retaliated,” he said, adding that the injured accused was sent right away to the Civil Hospital in SBS Nagar for treatment.
In this respect, a formal complaint has been filed at Police Station City Nawanshahr under sections 109, 324(5), and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act.
