ISI TERROR MODULE BUSTED IN PATIALA
Punjab Police have busted a Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) terror module with the arrest of Shabnam deep Singh, 24, of Samana sub-division, from Lahori Gate in Patiala on Thursday morning. A hand grenade, a pistol, letter pads belonging to a banned terror organisation and a motorcycle have been recovered from him.
In a major breakthrough, the state police have busted a Pakistan-Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) terror module with the arrest of Shabnamdeep Singh, 24, of Samana sub-division, from Lahori Gate in Patiala on Thursday morning. A hand grenade, a pistol, letter pads belonging to a banned terror organisation and a motorcycle have been recovered from him.
“Shabnamdeep planned to attack police stations and crowded places in the ongoing festive season,” DGP Suresh Arora said, in a release. He has been sent to police custody till November 5. “He is associated with the Khalistan Gadar Force, a terrorist organisation, and was also running operations for the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ),” said Patiala SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu.
“During interrogation, the accused has confessed that he planned to target Patiala’s Interstate Bus Terminal and nearby locations,” the SSP added.
DGP Arora added, “With this arrest, police have blown up the cover over the ISI’s nexus with Gurpatwant Singh Pannu’s SFJ, which is running the Sikh Referendum-2020 campaign. With ISI backing, SFJ had launched a conspiracy to spread mayhem in the state. Shabnamdeep, alias Maninder Lahoria, alias Billa, had been out on bail for a petty crime in Rajasthan.”
“Javed Khan Wazir, who we suspect is a Pakistan intelligence officer, contacted Shabnamdeep from Pakistan in July. He was also introduced to a Pakistani Sikh named Gopal Singh Chawla, former general secretary of the Pakistani Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Khan had tasked Shabnamdeep with targeted killings and promised him ₹10 lakh for each such killing,” Arora added.
“In October, the Pakistanbased handler of Shabnamdeep asked him to buy a new phone and install a new messaging application. On October 24, his operatives delivered him a sophisticated pistol and grenade,” the DGP continued.
The DGP said SFJ operative Nihal and other Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) incited him to indulge in arson of liquor vends. “Shabnamdeep and his accomplices set liquor vends and shacks, along with a house, on fire last month. He purchased a motorcycle and a new mobile phone with funds transferred to him by Nihal,” a police source added.