CHANDIGARH: The Madhya Pradesh anti-terrorist squad (ATS) on Tuesday arrested two persons for stealing INSAS rifles and ammunition from the Pachmari Army training camp in Hoshanabad district of the state.
The accused have been identified as Harpreet Singh (25), an Army deserter who had been missing from work since October 15 and his accomplice Jagtar Singh alias Jagga who is the son of a Khalistani militant. While Harpreet, who joined the army in 2015, was arrested from Chotala village, Jagga was nabbed from Kandhali Narandpur village on Monday night. Both hail from Miani village near Tanda in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab.
Based on a tip-off, the police conducted a search operation of the area.
Sources said Jagga is the son Harbhajan Singh, a Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist who was arrested in connection with a blast in Tarn Taran in September.
Two 5.56-mm INSAS rifles, three magazines and 20 cartridges have been recovered from them.
Sources said that on December 15, 2015, Harpreet was commissioned in the Sikh regiment at Ramgarh in Jharkhand. He was trained as a bandsman at Pachmarhi and deputed as B-Flat Clariant (musician) in June 2017.
Senior Superintendent of Police of Hoshiarpur Gaurav Garg said that both of them have been arrested and the stolen ammunition is recovered from a sugarcane field of Kandhali Narangpur village.
Three teams were constituted for this operation.
According to sources, the Military Intelligence (MI) and Intelligence Bureau (IB) teams are also questioning them. The Facebook activity of Harpreet, when examined by the investigating agencies, revealed that he was following 'Super Pakistan' page. Connection with ISI and other similar angles are also being scrutinised. He was reportedly meeting one Sonu and Jagga in Kandhali Narangpur village near Tanda.