4 Punjab-based terror suspects arrested from Haryana's Bastara toll plaza; police 'raid' Ludhiana house

Tribune News Service

Parveen Arora & Nikhil Bhardwaj

Karnal/Ludhiana, May 5

In a major success, the Karnal police on Thursday arrested four Punjab-based terror suspects from the Bastara toll plaza here.

The terror suspects travelling on a Toyota Innova SUV were on their way to Adilabad in Telangana to deliver a consignment of explosives, said Superintendent of Police Ganga Ram Punia.

Hours later, the Ludhiana police "raided" the house one of the accused, a BCA dropout.

The suspects were in touch with a Pakistan-based man who used to send locations to them to deliver explosives and weapons, said the SP. Harvinder Singh alias Rinda used to drop weapons and explosives in Ferozepur with the help of drones, police said.

Investigation was on to ascertain the terrorist group they were associated with, said the SP.

The suspects have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, Parminder Singh, Amandeep Singh; all three from Ferozepur; and Bhupinder Singh from Ludhiana.

Bhupinder Singh who was caught with explosives in Karnal is a netting manager in a factory on Rahon road in Ludhiana.

The Ludhiana police "raided" the house of Bhupinder. As per village panch Kulwinder Kaur, Bhupinder had gone to Anandpur Sahib with his friend to be pay obesiance. Family said their son was innocent and had no connection with Pakistan.

Gurpreet had met Rajbir Singh, an associate of Rinda, in jail and was in touch with him for the past nine months. 

Police have seized a country-made weapon, 31 cartridges, six mobile phones and three containers carrying 7.5 kg of explosives from them. Police also seized Rs 1.3 lakh in cash.

Karnal SP Ganga Ram Punia said the accused revealed some more names involved in the terror activities. The info is being verified. On being asked about whether the vehicle was stolen, he said they are on job to check it. He also recommended award for the police personnel involved in busting this terrorist group.

The age of the accused is between 25 and 30, the SP added.

“On scanning, our teams found the containers full of explosives. A bomb disposal squad is working to defuse the explosives,” said the SP.

He said Rinda had shared the location of Adilabad through an app found on one of the seized phones.

According to the Forensic Science Laboratory Division (FSL) experts, the recovered explosives are improvised explosive device (IED).

The IEDs were packed in three small iron containers, each weighing 2.5 kg. Each box contained a timer, a detonator, an explosive and power. Timer, detonator and explosive were connected; however, they were not connected with power.

Each box also contained nails that could have been disastrous.

One expert said the explosives were on transportation. Power is connected with the timer, detonator and explosive at the time of a blast.

The accused have been taken to the CIA.

An SIT led by Indri Assistant Superintendent of Police Himadri Kaushik has been formed.

The Madhuban police have registered a case under the Explosive Substance Act and Arms Act.

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