Haryana Police to quiz Punjab aides of accused

KARNAL: In an effort to trace the network of four suspected Khalistani terrorists, the Haryana police will now take their two Punjab-based accomplices on production warrant for interrogation.

Akashdeep and Jashandeep, who were arrested by the Punjab Police from Ferozepur and Faridkot, respectively for their alleged links with Pakistanbased Khalistani terrorists, were allegedly involved in delivering consignments of arms and ammunitions transported from Pakistan, said investigators in Karnal. “As of now, we have not found any links in Haryana but need to interrogate the Punjabbased accused to trace their network,” said a senior police officer associated with the investigation. The officer said they have not found involvement of the arrested accused in recovery of an improvised explosive device equipped with RDX from Tarn Taran on Sunday.

He said the CIA of the Karnal police and central investigation agencies have taken the accused to their native places in Punjab to ascertain whether they have any pending assignments. Also, their banks accounts are being verified to see whether they received any money directly.

Karnal superintendent of police (SP) Ganga Ram Punia said, “We are in the process to take them on production warrant after the Punjab Police complete their interrogation.”

The SP, however, said as of now, the investigators have not found any links of the accused in Haryana but the investigation is still on.The Karnal police are also waiting for the Punjab Police to complete their interrogation with Rajbir Singh alias Raja, a hardcore criminal, who is the link between Gurpreet and Rinda, who played a key role to weave this nexus. Rajbir has been taken on five-day remand by the Punjab Police.

On whether police will apply to extend their remand expiring on May 15, the SP said, “Let the interrogation get completed. If required, we will apply for an extension.” Since the arrest of these four suspected terrorists on May 5, police teams from different states including Maharashtra, Telangana, Punjab and Haryana, and national security agencies are camping in Karnal.

So far, there is no major breakthrough in the networks despite the investigators claiming that the accused were involved in several deliveries of such consignments.

AKASHDEEP AND JASHANDEEP WERE ‘INVOLVED’ IN DELIVERING ARMS AND AMMUNITIONS TRANSPORTED FROM PAKISTAN