Days after busting terror module, police seizes 2.5 kg RDX, arms in poll-bound Punjab

Chandigarh: Close on the heels of busting a terror module backed by the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), Punjab Police on Thursday said it has seized 2.5 kg of RDX, besides arms and ammunition, on the disclosure of the prime accused in two recent incidents of hurling of grenades in Pathankot. Police has also seized a detonator, a detonating cord, five explosive fuses along with wires and 12 live cartridges of AK-47 rifles, the Director General of Punjab Police VK Bhawra said. The explosive material was to be used in assembling IEDs, police said. “The recovery was made on the disclosure statement of accused Amandeep Kumar alias Mantri of village Lakhanpal in Gurdaspur, who is the prime accused in the two recent incidents of grenade attacks in Pathankot,” Bhawra was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the state police. Kumar was among the six ISYF operatives arrested by the police on Monday. He has confessed to having hurled grenades in two separate incidents in Pathankot, according to the statement. Senior Superintendent of Police, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Kanwardeep Kaur said following the revelations made by Kumar, teams were sent to Gurdaspur district and the explosive material was recovered. According to the prime accused, it was to be used in assembling Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). She said the consignment was provided to Kumar by the self-proclaimed chief of the ISYF (Rode), Lakhbir Singh Rode, who is presently residing in Pakistan, through his associate and the handler of this terror module, Sukhpreet Singh alias Sukh of Kharal village in Dinanagar.

According to the statement, since June-July last year, Rode has figured prominently in operationalising a series of terror modules through his network in Punjab and abroad. A large number of militant hardware, including RDX, tiffin IEDs, the associated explosive material for assembling IEDs, hand grenades and firearms, as also narcotics have been pushed in by him from across the international border, mainly via drones and using his network of cross-border smugglers, the police said. On Monday, police had said it had solved a case involving a recent grenade blast outside the gate of the Army cantonment in Pathankot by busting a major terror module backed by the ISYF with the arrest of six of its operatives. The Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar police had seized six hand grenades, a 9 mm pistol and a .30 bore rifle, along with live bullets and magazines, from the arrested men. The ISYF is supported by Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. “In two instances, some unidentified persons had hurled hand grenades at Pathankot—one grenade was hurled outside Triveni Dwar, outside the gate of Army cantonment at Pathankot, on 21 November 21, 2021 at about 9 pm, while another one was hurled near Chakki Pull on 11 November, 2021 at about 9.30 pm,” police had said in a statement.

Separate FIRs in connection with the incidents were registered at the Pathankot Division 2 and Division 1 police stations respectively, police said.

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