Four terror module operatives linked to Rinda arrested

The local unit of the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) of the Punjab Police arrested four operatives of a terror module backed by Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda and operated by US-based gangster Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Passia.

The accused were identified as Vikramjit Singh alias Raja Bains of Batala, Bawa Singh of Luddarh village in Amritsar, Gurkirpal Singh alias Gagan Randhawa and Amanat Gill, both residents of Amritsar. Police recovered a .32 bore pistol along with 10 live cartridges from their possession.

According to sources, the accused had planned to eliminate a retired superintendent of police (SP) of the Punjab Police to avenge encounters of terrorists by him during his service.

Sources said Vikramjit, who was recruited in the Punjab Police in 2016 after his father’s death, was dismissed around three months back from the force citing his long absence from the job. He was last posted as a constable in Jalandhar.

“Vikramjit and Bawa were nabbed last week as they reached here to eliminate a retired SP. The other two accused helped them to procure the weapon from Kartarpur and dropped them there in their car from where they further reached Mohali but were nabbed. The accused got the target to eliminate a few more police officers after eliminating the SP,” a Punjab Police officer said.

Meanwhile, disclosing their arrest on Tuesday, director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said with the arrest of these accused, the police averted possible targeted killing of prominent persons.

He said that after receiving intelligence inputs that Rinda and Happy had planned to target some prominent persons in the state for which they hired two shooters to accomplish the task, police teams from SSOC, SAS Nagar, launched a special operation and nabbed Vikramjit and Bawa.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that Happy had a deal with Vikramjit to pay ₹15 lakh in lieu of carrying out targeted killing. Vikramjit had also conducted the recce of the target in the last week of September. The pistol and live rounds for Vikramjit were arranged by Happy through his local associates identified as Gurkirpal Singh, Hari Singh and Amanat Gill,” the DGP added.

Police claimed that following the disclosures of arrested persons, the SSOC also nabbed Gurkirpal Singh and Amanat Gill, while Hari Singh managed to flee abroad.

An FIR has already been registered under sections 17, 18 and 20 of the UAPA Act, sections 115, 153, 153A and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25 of the Arms Act.