Chandigarh, 20 July: Punjab Police on Sunday said they have arrested three operatives of the banned terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) for their involvement in grenade attacks on police posts in Punjab and Haryana earlier this year.
The arrests were made in a joint operation by the Counter Intelligence unit in Patiala and the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Mohali. Two hand grenades and two pistols were recovered from the accused.
“Acting on specific intelligence inputs, CI Patiala and SSOC Mohali apprehended three operatives of BKI involved in grenade attacks on the police posts at Badshahpur in Patiala on April 1 and Azeemgarh in Haryana on April 6,” said Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav in a post on X.
Preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested operatives were executing the attacks on the instructions of foreign-based BKI handlers Manu Agwan from Greece and Maninder Billa from Malaysia. They were also operating under the command of Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda and backed by Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI.
Yadav said the arrested trio had received logistical and financial support from these foreign handlers and were actively planning more strikes on police and security establishments in Punjab.
An FIR has been registered at SSOC Mohali, and further investigation is underway to trace the network and unravel the full extent of the conspiracy.
