DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Punjab Police's Amritsar Commissionerate has thwarted a potential grenade attack on a police establishments with the arrest of five members of a Pakistan ISI-backed Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terror module linked to foreign-based gangster Jiwan Fauji, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said on Wednesday.

Those arrested have been identified as Naresh Kumar alias Babbu, Abhinav Bhagat alias Abhi, Ajay Kumar alias Ajju, and Sunny Kumar, all residents of Haripura in Amritsar and a 17-year-old juvenile.

Police teams have also recovered a hand grenade and a country-made .32 pistol along with five cartridges.

DGP Yadav said gangster Jiwan Fauji, currently operating from abroad, has been running a terror module in border districts of the state with the help of the arrested accused, who were recruited and radicalised to execute criminal activities.

The probe has also revealed that the arrested people were provided with motorcycles and tasked with retrieving weapon consignments from the Ajnala sector, the DGP said.

He said the arrested were actively plotting to target police establishments with grenades.

Further investigations are on to establish forward and backward linkages in this case, he said.

Sharing more details, Commissioner of Police, Amritsar, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said during a follow-up recovery operation, accused Ajay Kumar attempted to escape by snatching a service weapon and opening fire at the police team.

The accused sustained injuries in his leg during retaliatory fire and has been undergoing medical treatment at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar, he added.

The Commissioner of Police said that the probe has also revealed that the accused had also provided logistic support to the assailants, who fired at a shopkeeper recently at Mahal village in Amritsar.

Investigations are ongoing to uncover further links in the terror network, he added. A case has been registered under Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the police station Islamabad in Amritsar.

(editor@dailyworld.in)