Yuvraj Sabharwal alias Yash, the mastermind behind the planting of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) beneath the car of a sub-inspector in Amritsar, was among eighth accused arrested by the Punjab Police on Friday.
Yuvraj Sabharwal had committed the crime on the direction of Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa.
Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said that in an intelligence led operation, Yuvraj, a resident of Navi Abadi Faizpura, was arrested from Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. Yuvraj is a history sheeter and was involved in various heinous crimes including attempt to murder, robbery and dacoity, etc, he added.
The DGP said that along with Yuvraj, the police have also arrested his two aides identified as Pawan Kumar alias Shiva Macchi and Sahil alias Macchi, both residents of Chamrang Road, Amritsar, who have criminal-backgrounds and were wanted by the Amritsar Police in multiple other cases including murder, snatching, robbery, dacoity, etc.
Both the accused were arrested in a dacoity case registered at Police Station Majitha Road in Amritsar, while, their role in IED case registered at Police Station Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar is also being examined, said the DGP.
The development came four weeks after the Punjab Police had arrested seven persons including Deepak (22) of village Patti in Tarn Taran, who accompanied Yuvraj in retrieving and planting the IED under SUV Bolero (PB02-CK-0800) of Sub-Inspector Dilbag Singh parked outside his residence in C-Block, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar on August 16, 2022.
The mobile phone-triggering IED weighing about 2.79 kilogram and carrying about 2.17 kilogram high explosive was recovered from the spot by the local police.
Six other persons, who were arrested for providing logistic, technical and financial support have been identified as dismissed constable Harpal Singh, and Fatehdeep Singh, both residents of village Sabra in Tarn Taran; Rajinder Kumar alias Bau of Harike in Tarn Taran; Khushalbir Singh alias Chittu, Varinder Singh alias Abu and Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, trio residents of Bhikhiwind.
Yadav said that with the arrest of Yuvraj, the police have successfully managed to arrest all the accused persons involved in the case, while, strenuous efforts are being made to extradite Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, who conspired this entire conspiracy with intention to disturb hard-earned peace and harmony of the border state.
Lakhbir Landa, 33, who is a native of Tarn Taran and fled to Canada in 2017, had also conspired the Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) terror attack at the Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali. He is considered to be the close aide of Pakistan-based wanted gangster Harvinder Singh alias Rinda, who had joined hands with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).