Chandigarh, May 20: In a major breakthrough, Punjab Police busted a terror module of the banned Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) backed by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and arrested six operatives following an encounter.
Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav confirmed the arrests and identified the operatives as Jatin Kumar alias Rohan, Barinder Singh alias Sajan, Rahul Masih, Abraham alias Rohit, Sohit, and Sunil Kumar.
Yadav added that Jatin Kumar opened fire at the cops and was injured in the exchange of fire that ensued after the security forces retaliated.
According to the police, the terror module of BKI is operated by its foreign-based handlers Maninder Billa and Mannu Agwan on the directions of Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda.
"The group tried to carry out a grenade attack outside a liquor shop in Batala," said the DGP. He added that the arrested men were taking direct orders from Maninder Billa, based in Portugal, and BKI leader Mannu Agwan, who recently took charge after Happy Passian was arrested in the USA.
Police said they also found a 30-bore pistol with the accused. A case has been filed at the Civil Lines Police Station in Batala.
Notably, panic spread in Batala, about 40 km from Amritsar, on Saturday after a grenade was found outside a liquor store. The pin had been removed, but it didn’t explode. Later, some gangsters claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media post.
