Chandigarh, April 28 In a major breakthrough in less than 24 hours of the blast, Punjab Police on Tuesday busted a Pakistan's ISI-backed 'pro-Khalistani' terror module responsible for late night attempted detonation at the railway track near Shambu town, with the arrest of four highly radicalised habitual criminals and recovery of heavy quantity of militant hardware from their possession.
Those arrested have been identified as Pardeep Singh Khalsa of Mansa, Kulwinder Singh alias Bagga of Bappiana village in Mansa, Satnam Singh alias Satta of Panjwarh in Taran Tarn, and Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi of Goindwal bypass in Tarn Taran.
The accused have various heinous crime cases registered against them.
The recovered hardware includes one hand grenade, two .30 bore pistols along with ammunition, technically sophisticated communication devices to be used in further detonations and laptops, with which they used to communicate with their handlers.
Deputy Inspector General (Patiala Range) Kuldeep Chahal and Senior Superintendent of Police Varun Sharma told the media that a terror module responsible for attempted detonation at the railway track got unearthed within a record span of 12 hours.
They said the accused Khalsa was the main kingpin of the module and was in close proximity with Malaysia-based pro-Khalistani terrorist as well as in close contact with Pakistan-based arms suppliers.
Accused Khalsa used to send radicalised youth to Malaysia for undergoing terror training and then assign them with the tasks of terror activities, they said, adding the accused has also made a radical organisation by the name of "Chalda Vaheer Chakarwarti, Attariye".
They said that during initial questioning it also came to light that the accused have conducted a low-intensity IED blast at the main line at the Shambu railway station.
Probe has revealed that the accused were planning to execute further attacks on public infrastructure and properties, the police officials said.
A first information report (FIR) has been registered under Section 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosive Act, Section 25 of the Arms Act, and Sections 13, 16, 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Patiala.
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