Chandigarh, May 17 : Three people have been arrested in connection with a grenade-hurling incident in Punjab's Gurdaspur last month, police said on Sunday. The arrests were made by Gurdaspur police in coordination with the Counter Intelligence wing. Police also recovered a hand grenade from one of the accused. The arrested accused have been identified as Amarjit Singh alias Billa of Jalandhar, Karanjit Singh alias Karan and Satnam Singh of Amritsar, police said. According to police, two unidentified persons hurled a hand grenade outside a shop near Geeta Bhawan Road in Gurdaspur on April 27. However, it did not explode as the grenade's pin remained intact.

Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said the accused involved in hurling the hand grenade near the shop were identified following an extensive probe. During the investigation, another hand grenade was recovered from the residence of Amarjit, he said. Yadav said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused were acting on the directions of a foreign-based handler and had received the two hand grenades from the handler.

Sharing operational details, Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Aditya said that acting swiftly after the incident, multiple teams were constituted to work on the case. With the help of CCTV footage, human intelligence, technical analysis and intensive search, the three accused were arrested, he said. Further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages, including foreign handlers and local support networks. More arrests and recoveries are likely in the coming days, Aditya said.

A case was initially registered under the Explosive Substances Act at the City Gurdaspur police station. Charges under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) have been added, police said.

/Agencies