In a major blow to organised crime in Punjab amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state launched on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Police have averted planned target killings in the state with the arrest of three members linked to ISI-controlled Pak-based terror module, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Wednesday.
Those arrested have been identified as Rajbhupinder Singh alias Bhinda of village Dikh in Bathinda, Raman Kumar of village Guru Harsahai in Fazilka and Jagjit Singh of Dhilwa Kalan in Kotkapura. Police teams have also recovered eight Pistols— including three .30 bore pistols and five .32 bore pistols— along with nine Magazines and 30 live cartridges from their possession, besides impounding a stolen Alto car, in which they were travelling.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that following reliable inputs, Police teams from Counter Intelligence Bathinda laid a special naka near the bridge at village Gobindpura in Bathinda and arrested the trio accused persons. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested persons were in contact with persons currently lodged in Sangrur Jail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, he added.
Sharing more details, AIG Counter Intelligence Avneet Kaur Sidhu said that the probe revealed that the arrested accused persons had brought weapons from Madhya Pradesh and were tasked to carry out target killings in the state to create panic in the society. Further investigations are on to unveil forward & backward linkages and recovery of more weapons is expected, she said.
A case FIR no. 151 dated 21/11/23 has been registered under sections 379, 411, 115, 109 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 25(7) and 25(8) of the Arms Act at Police Station Cantt Bathinda.