Man behind plot to target Badal held in Bikaner

GERMAN SINGH, A RESIDENT OF UP, WILL BE BROUGHT TO PATIALA AND PRODUCED IN COURT, SAY POLICE

PATIALA : A joint team of Patiala and Rajasthan police on Thursday arrested a wanted criminal and alleged pro-Khalistani group member who was planning to target Akali Dal patriarch and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal. “German Singh, a resident of Jhinjhana in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested from Navagaon village in Bikaner district of Rajasthan by a special team led by CIA in charge Shaminder Singh,” said Patiala SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu.

The plot by Khalistani elements to target Badal was unearthed during interrogation of three criminals who were arrested from Shamli by UP police on October 15.

“Intelligence agencies and UP police had shared key inputs with us about German Singh activities in the region. On the basis of these inputs, a team comprising 12 police personnel rushed to Rajasthan on Wednesday,” added the SSP.

He said German will be brought back to Patiala and produced in a court. “We have some important leads on his involvement in other cases,” Sidhu said, adding that the accused was also wanted in car-snatching incidents at Patran in January this year.

German and his three accomplices —Amarjeet alias Amrit of Karnal, Gurjant alias Jinta of Saharanpur and Karan Singh of Jhinjhana in Shamli — had looted a rifle and Insas gun from constable Sandra Singh and home guard Sanjay Verma on October 2 when they stopped them at a checkpoint on the Bidauli -Chausana road in Shamli.

While the trio was arrested, German managed to flee and reached Rajasthan.