STF arrests four from US Nagar for sheltering Pathankot blast accused
RUDRAPUR/DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand police’s special task force (STF) arrested four men from state’s Udham Singh (US) Nagar district on Friday night for allegedly providing shelter to Sukhpreet Singh, who is an absconding accused in Pathankot grenade attack case and alleged operative of banned terror outfit Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), police officers said on Saturday.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP), US Nagar, deputy inspector general (rank) Barinderjit Singh shared the information while holding a press conference on the same in district headquarters Rudrapur.
“The arrested four accused were identified as Shamsher Singh, 26, Harpreet Singh, 24, Ajmer Singh, 30, all residents of US Nagar and Gurpal Singh, 24, resident of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. The four allegedly gave shelter to Sukhpreet alias Sukh who had fled from Punjab to evade the Punjab police crackdown after the grenade attack on army base in Pathankot, Punjab on November 21 last year,” said Singh.
He added Sukhpreet had fled Punjab following the arrest of six youth by its state police on January 10 in connection with the Pathankot blast. The police after arresting them, had recovered arms and ammunition from them.
“After the knowing about the arrest, Sukhpreet had come to US Nagar to evade Punjab police which was probing the terrorism incident in coordination with other agencies and state police also. In that, the Uttarakhand STF got the input that Sukhpreet has come to US Nagar to take shelter with the help of some of his acquaintances,” said Singh.
He also informed that all the four accused have been booked in Pantnagar police station under section 19 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and section 25 of Arms act after police recovered a .32 bore pistol and four live cartridges.
Another senior police officer and SSP STF Ajay Singh who led the operation to arrest the above-mentioned four accused said, “The police had received the input about him hiding in US Nagar district for last three days.”
“As it was a matter of national security, police were working covertly to ensure that the accused are nabbed. Based on specific inputs, the four, who helped Sukhpreet in hiding in US Nagar were nabbed on Friday night. However, the main accused Sukhpreet couldn’t be nabbed but efforts are on to get our hands on him,” said Ajay Singh.
The senior STF officer said that after the joint interrogation of the arrested accused, it was found that they were being handled by fugitive terrorists sitting abroad.
“The four and Sukhpreet were connected with Canada based KTF leader Arshdeep Singh and leader of another banned terror outfit International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) Lakhbir Singh Rode who is based in Lahore and works under the behest of ISI. All of them used to communicate using banned messaging apps and VoIP calls. They were also in touch with some of their acquaintances sitting in Serbia, Canada and Australia,” said Singh.
He added, “After the arrest of six youths by Punjab police few days ago, Sukhpreet came to Bajpur town of US Nagar from Ludhiana to hide with the help of the four. He was hiding in the district for about five days before fleeing again from here. He would be nabbed soon.”
STF recovered a pistol .32 bore and 4 bullets from the possession of Shamsher Singh. Also a Ford Figo car from which used in travelling of Sukhpreet between Punjab and US Nagar.
The main accused Sukhpreet couldn’t be nabbed but efforts are on to get our hands on him. AJAY SINGH,
STF officer