ISI link emerges in police station grenade attack case, 6 held

Amritsar: Amritsar rural police in a joint operation with Faridkot Police and Counter Intelligence Ferozepur, claims to have solved the grenade attack case at Bhindi Saida police station with the arrest of six accused and recovery of two pistols from them.Senior superintendent of police (Amritsar Rural) Suhail Qasim Mir informed that those arrested have been identified as Baljit Singh, a resident of village Chak Dogra; Prabh Singh, resident of Chota Fatehwal; Rajbir Singh, resident of Baba Gum Chak Ballarwal; Sukhpreet Singh, resident of Thehra Rajputan; Ajaydeep Singh alias Ajay alias Gazni, a resident of Lopoke; and Sahib Singh alias Saba, resident of Sarangdev, all from Amritsar.Suhail said the preliminary investigation revealed that the module was backed by Pakistan's ISI. The alleged accused were in contact with a Pakistan-based handler operating from abroad, who was directing terror activities in Punjab, he said.He said the module was radicalised and motivated to target police establishments, with promises of substantial financial rewards for executing the attack.During the investigation, it came to light that accused Baljit and Prabh allegedly retrieved two hand grenades from a location near Gharinda. Investigations also revealed that the accused were promised a large sum, but eventually paid only a paltry amount by the Pakistani handler to carry out the attack, he said.SSP Faridkot Pragya Jain said police teams arrested the two accused involved in the grenade attack case from Faridkot. Later, during investigations, four more were arrested from Amritsar, she said.A case under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act; Sections 13, 16, 18 and 19 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act; Sections 109, 61(1), 61(2), 3(5) and 324(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS); and Section 25 of the Arms Act was registered at Bhindi Saida police station.