Seizure of tiffin bomb, hand grenades: ‘Suspect works as a sleeper cell for BKI’

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 22

Amritpal Singh, an alleged operative of the banned militant outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), came in contact with the UK-based Gurpreet Singh Khalsa, when he went to New Zealand in 2015.

This revelation came to light during the interrogation of Amritpal and Sammy, who are currently in the police custody. The duo was arrested by the Amritsar (rural) police on August 15 with two hand grenades and a pistol.

A day later, his interrogation had led to the seizure of four hand grenades and three pistols along with magazines and bullets on Dhariwal-Batala road near Suchetghar village in Batala.

Senior Superintendent of Police Gulneet Singh Khuranna said Amritpal was working a sleeper cell for the BKI. Khalsa was passing instructions to him. Khalsa, who was the suspect in Shingar bomb blast case in Ludhiana, had fled to the UK after being acquitted by the court.

A police official privy to the investigation said Amritpal used to live in Mullanpur in 2015 when he got influenced by the separatist movement. Later, he went to New Zealand, where he came in contact with Khalsa.

The police have been looking into Amritpal’s contacts abroad, besides looking at his financial transactions, which may have been used in unlawful activities.

Recent seizures have left the security and intelligence agencies perplexed. On August 8, the police had confiscated a tiffin bomb with 2-kg RDX and five hand grenades from Daleke-Beharwal border village, which were dropped by drones. On August 14, a hand grenade was found in a garbage pile in Ranjit Avenue area. On August 15, the police nabbed Amritpal and Sammy with two hand grenades and a pistol and later their interrogation led to seizure of four hand grenades and three pistols.

A tiffin bomb was also recovered from Gurnam Singh Brar alias GB, a resident of Hardyal Nagar (Kapurthala), and Gagandeep Singh. The explosives and weapons were allegedly part of larger consignment dropped by drones from across Pakistan-based notorious elements. The police have been trying to find a link between all the recent seizures.