With the arrest of five operatives of the foreign-based Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), the Punjab Police claimed to have foiled a conspiracy of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI to disrupt peace and harmony of the border state ahead of the Independence Day.
Following inputs that some terrorist elements based abroad have formed a terror module by recruiting foot soldiers through criminals lodged in jails and have been hatching a conspiracy to target minority leaders, police officials, and other prominent persons to disturb the peace and harmony of the state, the State Special Operating Cell (SSOC) of the SAS Nagar had immediately registered a case and started a special operation.
Recounting the events that led to the arrests, Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said on Saturday, “Around two-week long operation, which involved meticulous intelligence gathering, technical analysis, and swift action led to the apprehension of five operatives of this terrorist module involved in the nefarious plot.”
He said investigations have revealed that the links of this new module have been established with the same foreign-based handler – which had targeted Shiv Sena local leader Rajiv Mahajan was shot at in his electronic goods shop in Batala on 24 June and they were controlling this separate module through these operatives to carry out different target killings in the state.
Investigations have also revealed that the operatives of the KLF, by using the name of Ranjodh Singh, which is a fake name, have been doing talent spotting in India and recruiting foot-soldiers through people based in jail, the DGP said.
He said they use fake narratives using social media to influence impressionable youth and transfer money into their bank accounts to motivate them to carry out target killings in Punjab.
Sharing more details about the operation, assistant inspector general (AIG) SSOC SAS Nagar, Ashwani Kapur said it was discovered that foreign-based handlers of KLF had provided a list of target persons and module members had already conducted recce of some of targets. Further investigations are on, he added.
A case had already been registered under sections 153, 153-A and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), sections 25 (7) and 25 of the Arms Act and sections 18 and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) at Police Station SSOC SAS Nagar.