Punjab Police busts Khalistan Zindabad Force terror module, 2 held

The Punjab Police on Sunday said it has busted a terror module of banned outfit Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) by arresting its two cadres in Hoshiarpur district of the state.

They were identified as Makhan Singh Gill alias Amli and Davinder Singh alias Happy, both residents of Noorpur Jattan village in Hoshiarpur, Punjab Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta said.

Police have seized two sophisticated arms and ammunition, including one MP5 sub-machine gun (with two magazines and 30 live rounds) and one 9mm pistol (with two magazines and 30 live rounds), besides a white colour car, four mobile phones and an internet dongle from their possession, Gupta said in a statement.

The DGP said based on inputs about the disruptive designs of certain pro-Khalistan elements, who had plans to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state by launching terror attacks, security forces had launched a major drive in the state to conduct raids and check the movement and whereabouts of members of various terrorist modules busted in the past.

"The current breakthrough is the result of these concerted efforts and the drive launched in the recent past," he added.

Gupta said during preliminary investigations, Makhan disclosed that they were in touch with Canada-based Harpreet Singh who had instigated them to raise a terror module in Punjab to carry out killings in the state.

"According to Makhan, who has earlier been a close associate of BKI (Babbar Khalsa International) chief Wadhawa Singh, Canada-based Harpreet, a KZF operative, is a frequent visitor to Pakistan and he's a close aide of Pak-based KZF chief Ranjeet Singh alias Neeta," the DGP said.

The arrested accused further disclosed that the arms and ammunition had been arranged for them by Ranjeet Neeta through his associates, he added.

"A couple of other foreign-based terrorist handlers from Germany and the USA had also figured in the module, who were involved in transferring funds from abroad to Makhan alias Amli through different money transfer services and other funding channels as well," Gupta said.

The DGP further stated that Makhan was a hardcore pro-Khalistan militant who had been earlier arrested by the Punjab Police for his involvement in smuggling arms consignments into India and various terror-related offences.

"Makhan has been trained in Pakistan and he had earlier stayed in the United States during 1980s and 1990s. He has been very closely associated with Pak-based Babbar Khalsa International chief Wadhawa Singh Babbar and stayed with him in Pakistan for over 14 years," he added.

Gupta said a case under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act has been registered at Police Station Mahalpur in Hoshiarpur district against the accused.

He said Makhan had been engaging in various terror and other criminal activities in the past.

As many as seven cases had been earlier registered against him.