Chandigarh/Amritsar, April 13
In a major breakthrough, Amritsar Rural Police, in a joint operation with District Faridkot Police and Counter Intelligence Ferozepur, has successfully solved the grenade attack case at Police Station Bhindi Saida with the arrest of six accused persons and recovered two pistols from their possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Monday.
Those arrested have been identified as Baljit Singh, a resident of village Chak Dogra in Amritsar; Prabh Singh, a resident of Chota Fatehwal in Amritsar; Rajbir Singh, a resident of Baba Gum Chak Ballarwal in Amritsar; Sukhpreet Singh, a resident of Thehra Rajputan in Amritsar; Ajaydeep Singh alias Ajay alias Gazni, a resident of Lopoke in Amritsar; and Sahib Singh alias Saba, a resident of Sarangdev in Amritsar.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that preliminary investigation has revealed that the module was backed by Pakistan’s ISI. The accused were in contact with a Pak-based handler operating from abroad, who was directing terror activities in Punjab, he said. The DGP said that the module had been radicalised and motivated to target police establishments, with promises of substantial financial rewards for executing the attack.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Border Range Sandeep Goel said that during investigation, it has come to light that accused Baljit Singh and Prabh Singh had retrieved two hand grenades from a location near Gharinda. Investigations have also revealed that the accused were promised a large amount of money, but eventually only a paltry amount of money was given by the Pakistani handler for carrying out the attack, he said.
Sharing operational details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Faridkot Dr Pragya Jain said that in an intelligence led operation with Amritsar Rural Police, police teams arrested the two accused persons involved in the PS Bhindi Saida grenade attack case from Faridkot. Later, during investigations, four more have been arrested from Amritsar, she said.
Sharing more details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amritsar Rural Suhail Qasim Mir said that on the day of the incident, all three accused—Baljit Singh, Prabh Singh and Rajbir Singh—proceeded towards Police Station Bhindi Saida on a motorcycle. They parked their motorcycle approximately 1-2 kilometres away from the police station in nearby fields and approached the rear side of the police station on foot through agricultural fields, he said.
Suhail Qasim Mir further said that accused Baljit Singh and Prabh Singh hurled hand grenades at the police station, while accused Rajbir Singh recorded the entire incident. After executing the attack, the accused again moved through the fields and remained concealed in wheat crops for approximately three to four hours, he added. The SSP added that the accused later disposed off their clothes in a drain nearly one kilometre from the police station to destroy evidence and at around 5 AM retrieved their motorcycle and fled from the spot.
