Accused bought explosives from Amritsar cracker unit
CHANDIGARH: The module behind the September 5 Pandori Gola village blast in Tarn Taran district was active in making bombs since 2015. The module members used to make low-intensity bombs after procuring explosives from a cracker factory in the Angarh area of Amritsar, reveals a probe.
The key members of the module — Bikramjit Singh Panjwar, who is said to be in Austria since 2018, and Gurjant Singh, who was injured in the September 5 blast — used to buy sulphur, potassium and gunpowder from the cracker factory, and add screws in the material to make bombs more potent, the interrogation of the six accused arrested in the case has revealed.
Seven accused— Gurjant, Harjit Singh, Manpreet Singh Mann, Chandeep Singh Khalsa, alias Gabbar Singh, Malkiat Singh, alias Shera, Maandeep Singh, alias Massa, Amritpal Singh and Amarjit Singh — were arrested by Punjab Police in the case, which now is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
On October 4, the NIA got the custody of Gurjant, Harjit and Amritpal and five other accused Manpreet, Chandeep, Malkiat, Maandeep and Amarjit were sent to judicial custody.
Two members of the module — Harpreet Singh and Vikramjit — were killed in the blast while Gurjant was seriously injured when they started digging a pit in the fields at Pandori Gola village to recover two bombs buried by Panjwar. The explosion took place when Harpreet’s shovel hit the bomb.
MODULE WAS ACTIVE IN MAKING LOW-INTENSITY BOMBS SINCE 2015, INTERROGATION OF ACCUSED REVEALED
Probe reveals that Gurjant learnt making IEDs from Panjwar, who used to stay in his house where the other module members were radicalised. The accused are said to be closely associated with US-based proKhalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) through Panjwar.
HT had already reported how Panjwar and another accused Shera tried to eliminate Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal in November 2016 in Golden Temple. But they could not execute their plan due to heavy security. In a fresh revelation, the accused disclosed that in 2017, they used bombs to attack Sikh preacher Darshan Singh Missionary but he survived. It is not clear if an FIR was registered in this case or not.
“The missionary, who spoke against Dasham Granth, visited Noor Da Adda in Tarn Taran for preaching at a local gurdwara where he had an altercation with followers on Damdami Taksal (Amrik Singh Ajnala faction). Arivinder Singh, accused in the Tarn Taran blast, who is on the run, Vikramjit, who died in the blast, and Panjwar, threw bomb at Darshan’s car but he escaped unhurt,” the probe revealed.
In January this year, Gurjant hurled a low-intensity bomb near a water tank at a Tarn Taran village during a scuffle in panchayat elections, but police failed to book him.
NIA PROBE FAILS TO PICK UP PACE
The NIA probe is stuck following ill-health of Gurjant, a key conspirator in the case. Gurjant who lost his eyesight in the blast is not physically fit for interrogation.
The NIA team conducting the probe at a police station has provided two doctors to take care of Gurjant, an official said.
Punjab Police preliminary probe revealed that Gurjant got fresh directions from Panjwar from Austria and only his interrogation can make headway in the case, said the official.