3 BKI operatives held with 6 hand grenades, 12 pistols in Amritsar

Chandigarh, Jul 8 (PTI) Three alleged operatives of the proscribed Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) were arrested with six hand grenades and 12 sophisticated pistols as the Punjab Police busted an illegal arms and explosives smuggling module in Amritsar, police chief Gaurav Yadav said on Wednesday. According to Yadav, the Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, the arrested have been identified as Chintu, Jobanpreet Singh, and Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi -- all residents of Kakkar village in Amritsar. The recovered cache includes eight .30 bore pistols, four 9 mm pistols and nine live cartridges. Police also impounded the car allegedly used to transport the consignment. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were operating on the directions of a foreign-based smuggler backed by Pakistan's ISI and overseas operatives of the BKI, the DGP said. He said the accused were allegedly planning to carry out activities intended to disturb public peace in various cities across the border state. Sharing operational details, Yadav said teams from Punjab Police's Counter-Intelligence wing in Amritsar received specific inputs that the three suspects had recently collected a large consignment of explosives, arms and ammunition from the Ajnala area on the instructions of their handlers. The accused were expected to deliver the consignment to other associates near the underpass on the Bharatmala Bypass Highway, on the Amritsar-Chogawan Road in Amritsar, the DGP said. Acting on the inputs, police teams set up a checkpoint in the Amritsar area and intercepted a car in which the three were travelling, he said, adding that during the search, six hand grenades and 12 pistols were recovered from their possession. The DGP said that the case is being investigated thoroughly from multiple angles to establish forward and backward linkages and to uncover the complete network. A case has been registered under provisions of the Arms Act, the Explosive Substances Act and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Police Station State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar. PTI SUN RHL