Terror threat averted, 2 held with hand grenades in Punjab's Bathinda

BATHINDA: The Counter Intelligence (CI) wing of Bathinda police on Wednesday claimed to have averted a terror threat with the arrest of two persons and recovered two hand grenades from their possession.

The arrested accused have been identified as Buta Singh alias Gurpreet Singh alias Gopu, a resident of Gillwali in Ferozepur, and Harmander Singh alias Nikka, a resident of Mothawali in Moga.

Gaurav Yadav, director general of police, Punjab, said preliminary investigation revealed that the recovered grenades were part of an illegal supply chain linked to cross-border elements, intended to disrupt peace and public safety in the border state.

Further investigation is underway to establish forward and backward linkages and identify other associates involved in this module, said the DGP.

Avneet Kaur Sidhu, assistant inspector general of police, CI Bathinda, said police teams received a reliable input that two operatives linked to a terror module had retrieved hand grenades. Acting swiftly, CI Bathinda launched an intelligence-led operation and apprehended both the suspects from Moga-Ferozepur road and recovered two hand grenades from their possession, she said.

The AIG said the swift action by the counter intelligence teams thwarted an untoward incident and neutralised a potential threat.

In this regard, an FIR has been registered under Sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Explosives Act at police station State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Fazilka, said Avneet Kaur.