Punjab Police solve RPG attack in Tarn Taran, nab perpetrators

The Punjab Police on Friday claimed to have solved the Tarn Taran Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) attack case with the busting of a foreign-controlled terrorist module leading to arrest of six persons, including the two juveniles, who carried out the terror attack at Police Station Sarhali building in Tarn Taran on 9 December.
Addressing a Press conference, the Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said the terror attack was masterminded by the foreign-based wanted terrorists Lakhbir Singh alias Landa Harike, Satbir Singh alias Satta and Gurdev alias Jaisel, with the help of Ajmeet Singh, currently lodged at the Goindwal Sahib Jail.
Apart from the arrest of 2 juveniles, the remaining 4 members of the module arrested in the case have been identified as Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Numberdar (18) of Naushera Pannua,,Gurlal Singh alias Gahla (19) of Chohla Sahib, Surlalpal Singh alias Gurlal alias Lali (21) of village Thathiya Mahanta and Jobanpreet Singh alias Joban (18) of Naushra Pannua.
Gopi Numberdar, who was on bail as he was arrested as a juvenile, turned 18-years-old a day after his release on 22 November and immediately got in touch with the foreign-based handlers.
The foreign-based handlers used cut-outs and dead letter box (DLB) techniques for retrieval of consignment and establishing contact so that the module members were assigned tasks directly by the handlers and were aware of only their roles. Even the identities of sub-modules remained hidden from other sub-modules.
The Police teams have also recovered 3 pistols— two .32 bore and one .30 bore along with ammunition, one hand grenade P-86 and one motorcycle used in crime from the possession of the arrested persons.
The Soviet-era made a single-use 70mm calibre RPG-26 weapon, which was used to carry out the attack,  was recovered on 10 December. The RPG-26 weapon, which was used by Mujahdeen in Afghanistan, was sourced from across the border.
Yadav said as per the investigations, initially Gopi had received funding of Rs 8.5 lakh and one .30 bore pistol along with a chunk of 200 live cartridges from Landa and Satta. On 1 December , Gopi along with Gurlal Gahla and Jobanpreet Joban retrieved another consignment containing RPG from village Jhander in Tarn Taran and dumped it at a spot near village Marhana in Tarn Taran.
The DGP said during questioning, Gopi Numberdar and Gurlal Gahla revealed that the two juveniles were tasked by the Landa and Satta to execute the attack on Police Station Sarhali, which was aimed at creating terror in the border state.
Both accused persons further revealed that another accused Gurlal Lali had provided logistic support and also handed over Rs One lakh to both the juveniles, who were camping at village Marhana a couple of hours prior to the attack at the Police Station building.
Yadav said after the attack, they both fled to village Saido and took shelter in a tubewell room already arranged by Landa. Both shooters had learnt to operate the RPG from YouTube videos and were given instructions by Landa in a video call as well, he said.