PUNJAB POLICE BUST FIVE TERRORIST MODULES, ARRESTS 17 TERRORISTS IN 10 DAYS; RECOVERS HUGE CACHE OF ARMS AND EXPLOSIVES

 DECISIVE WAR AGAINST DRUGS: 314 DRUG SMUGGLERS/SUPPLIERS HELD WITH 18KG HEROIN, 16KG OPIUM, 4KG GANJA, Rs 9.73 LAKH DRUG MONEY IN A WEEK

— DRIVE TO ARREST POs/ABSCONDERS IN NDPS ACT CASES WITNESSES SIGNIFICANT SURGE AS TOLL REACHES 365

CHANDIGARH, October 10:

            Adopting a pro-active approach against anti-social elements on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police has busted five major terrorist modules after arresting 17 terrorists in the last 10 days.

            The Police have also recovered four rifles including AKs/MP-9/MP-5 and 25 revolvers/pistols from their possession. Apart from this, the Police teams have also recovered three hand grenades and one IED, he added.

            Inspector General of Police (IGP) headquarters Sukhchain Singh Gill, while addressing his weekly press conference here on Monday said that as per the vision of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Punjab Police has not been leaving any stone unturned to ensure maintain peace and harmony in the state.

            He said that in the last 10 days the Police teams have managed to strike a major blow to the terrorist modules being operated by Gangsters-turned-Terrorists including Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, Harvinder Singh alias Rinda and Arsh Dalla from out of India.

            On October 1, Punjab Police busted a module after arresting three operatives of an ISI-backed terror module jointly handled by Canada-based Lakhbir Landa and Pakistan-based Harvinder Rinda after recovering one sophisticated AK-56 assault rifle along with two magazines, 90 live cartridges, and two bullet shells from their possession, he said, adding that earlier on September 28, an operative of Canada-based terrorist Lakhbir Landa gang was arrested from Bihar for his involvement in several heinous crimes pertaining to murder, attempt to murder, assault, robbery, and snatching.

            The IGP said that on the next day, an ISI-backed drone-based Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) terror module being operated by Canada-based terrorist/gangster Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dala was busted with the arrest of its two operatives from the Chamkaur Sahib area. The Police have also recovered two illicit weapons including a .22 bore revolver and .32 bore pistol along with 21 live cartridges from their possession. Two days after, the Police arrested one more operative of the same module after recovering three hand grenades and two pistols from his car.

            On October 4, Amritsar Rural Police busted an ISI-backed Narco-Terrorism module after arresting its main operative and one RDX loaded Tiffin Box fabricated into an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or Tiffin Bomb; two sophisticated AK-56 assault rifles along with two magazines and 30 live cartridges; one .30 bore pistol along with 6 live cartridges; and 2 KG Heroin was recovered from his possession.

            The next day, another drone-based arms/ammunition smuggling module was busted with the arrest of its two members including a prisoner after recovering 10 foreign-made pistols including five .30 bore (made in China) and five 9mm (made in USA Beretta) from a location pinpointed by them, he said, adding that three more members of this module were arrested with fresh cache of sophisticated arms and ammunition from their possession including 17 pistols and one MP-4 rifle, besides,  Rs 1.01 crores cash and 500 grams heroin.

On October 9, a Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) module linked with Gurdev Singh (lodged in Faridkot jail) being operated by Germany based Gurmeet Singh alias Bagga was busted with the arrest of its five members for arranging smuggled weapons and providing logistic support. The police also recovered two 9mm foreign made pistols and one .32 bore pistol.

            Giving weekly updates on drugs, the IGP said that last week, the police arrested 314 drug smugglers after registering 240 FIRs including 32 related to commercial quantity, and recovered 18Kg Heroin, 16Kg opium, 4Kg Ganja, 5 quintals of poppy husk, and 3.71 lakh tablets/capsules/injections/vials of Pharma opioids, besides, recovering Rs 9.73 lakhs drug money.

            He said that with 11 more Proclaimed Offenders (POs)/Absconders in NDPS cases arrested this week, the total number of arrests reached 365 since the special drive to arrest POs/absconders was started on July 5, 2022.

            Meanwhile, on the direction of Chief Minister Punjab Bhagwant Mann to make Punjab a drug-free state, extensive anti-drug drives have been launched by the Punjab Police to combat the menace of drugs from the border State. The DGP has also strictly ordered all the CPs/SSPs to identify all hotspots where drugs are prevalent and all top drug smugglers in their jurisdictions. He also directed the Police chiefs to effectively forfeit the property of all the arrested drug smugglers so that their ill-gotten money could be recovered.