The Punjab Police on Friday said it has busted a Pakistan-linked terror module by arresting two alleged Khalistani operatives, who were planning to carry out a series of attacks and targeted killings in the state.
Punjab DGP Dinkar Gupta said Gurmeet Singh and Vikram Singh were arrested late Thursday night from a spot near Gurdaspuria Dhaba on the GT Road, under Jandiala Police Station, during a raid by an Amritsar Rural Police team, acting on a tip-off from the general public.
A German-made MP5 sub-machine gun, a 9-mm pistol with four magazines, and two mobile phones with a host of incriminatory conversations, messages, photographs etc were seized from the duo, he said.
"The mobile phones revealed suspicious transactions with Pakistan-based elements, including photographs, voice messages, as well as the coordinates of a particular geo-location," Gupta said.
In addition, several posts and web-links propagating the formation of Khalistan were also found from the mobile phone of Gurmeet Singh, who has been in regular touch with the ISI, Pakistan's intelligence agency, and anti-India elements sponsored by the Pakistani establishment, he said.
A case has been registered under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, he said.
According to the DGP, 44-year-old Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Ganda Singh Colony, Sultanwind Road, Amritsar, revealed during questioning that the photographs and voice messages had been shared with them by their Pakistan-based handlers to locate and pick up sophisticated weapons kept at that location by their associates.
He further revealed that their Pakistan-based handlers had been instructing them to carry out terror attacks in Punjab, especially targeting persons belonging to a particular community, to further the cause of Khalistan.
Gurmeet Singh further disclosed that he had visited Pakistan about 3 years ago to meet his handlers.
"Gurmeet Singh was earlier involved in a case of fraud with his brother, and a case was registered against him in Police station B-Division, Amritsar," he said.
Efforts were being made to identify their Pakistan-based mentors and handlers, said Gupta, adding that further investigations to unearth the full linkages and ramifications of the terror module, including those based across the border, were in progress.
Gupta said the Punjab Police was working round-the-clock to thwart the nefarious designs of anti-India elements trying to disturb the state's communal harmony and law and order, in furtherance of their separatist and divisive agenda.
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