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Pak handler sent accused from Rajasthan to carry out grenade attack in Punjab
Module with links to Lawrence Bishnoi gang was planning to attack govt buildings, sensitive locations in Punjab: Ludhiana police commissioner
A day after a gangster-terror module was busted in Ludhiana, police on Friday said that the two accused injured in the encounter were tasked by their Pakistan-based handler, Jasveer, alias Choudhary, to carry out a grenade attack in Punjab.
Addressing the media, Ludhiana commissioner of police Swapan Sharma said that Deepak, alias Deepu, and Ram Lal belonged to Rajasthan and were sent to Ludhiana for two days to coordinate and execute a grenade attack.
“This highlights a dangerous trend wherein Pakistan-based handlers are recruiting criminals from other states to commit terror acts in Punjab so that they can operate by evading police attention and are difficult to identify,” Sharma said.
The Ludhiana commissionerate police in coordination with the counter-intelligence unit have busted the terror module with the arrest of three operatives, identified as Shamsher Singh from Ferozepur, Ajay from Haryana and Harsh Kumar Ojha from Bihar. As of now, police teams have recovered two Chinese 86P hand-grenades, five sophisticated .30-bore pistols, and 40+ live rounds from the five accused.
The module, having links with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, was planning to use hand grenades to target government buildings and sensitive locations to create tension in Punjab.
The development came after the Ludhiana police unearthed another ISI-backed module with the arrest of 10 operatives and recovered a Chinese hand-grenade on November 13.
On the inter-state network of gangsters, Sharma said that the first arrest of Shamsher Singh led the police to Ojha from Bihar. “During interrogation, it was revealed that Ojha is a grenade-thrower expert and was assigned to execute attacks in Punjab. Recently, he was involved in a firing incident in Bihar for extortion on directions of his foreign-based handler. Ojha was arrested in Bihar before he could cause damage,” he said.
The police arrested Ajay from Haryana based on Shamsher’s disclosure and recovered two pistols.
The CP said Ajay is linked to Pawan, the brother of Lawrence Bishnoi gang operative Harpal Singh, alias Harry, who is accused of firing on the house of actor Salman Khan in Mumbai.
