Man with ‘Khalistan links’ told cops he was Shri Ram follower
During interrogation, Dussad reiterated that he came for darshan of Ram Lalla as he was a follower of Shri Ram. He was brought to UP ATS headquarters in Lucknow and interrogated in the afternoon. But he repeated the same thing, says ATS officer
LUCKNOW Shankar Lal Dussad, who was arrested along with his two aides while doing ‘recce’ in Ayodhya on Thursday, initially tried to mislead the cops by posing as a big follower of Lord Ram. The man allegedly having Khalistan links had installed a saffron flag on his SUV, said ATS officials on Saturday.
Dussad and his two aides - Ajit Kumar Sharma and Pradeep Puniya - were intercepted around 11pm on Wednesday night.
“During interrogation, he reiterated that he came for darshan of Ram Lalla as he is a big follower of Shri Ram. Dussad was brought to UP ATS headquarters in Lucknow on Thursday morning and interrogated in the afternoon. But he repeated the same thing,” said ATS inspector Gyanendra Pratap Singh narrating the sequence of events in an FIR registered against the trio at the ATS police station in Lucknow on Friday night.
He said the FIR against was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 121-A (conspiracy to commit offence), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing anything), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).
The official said Dussad confessed to his tainted background as well as his links with Canada-based Khalistani terrorist Gurupatwant Singh Pannu through other Canada-based arms smugglers Lakhwinder Singh Landa and Sukhwinder Singh Sukkha.
He said Dussad was in regular touch with Landa and others through chat applications and internet calls to take orders from them.
Sharing further details in a press note, ATS officials informed Dussad was released on bail from Central Jail, Bikaner on May 15, 2023, after spending over seven years since March 21, 2016. They said Dussad forged links with Khalistani groups while staying in Bikaner jail when he met a prisoner Lakhbinder Singh who asked him to meet his nephew Pumma through whom he came in touch with Canada-based Khalistani leader Sukhbinder Singh Sukkha.
