CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Police has arrested two men allegedly associated with terrorist organisation Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) who were involved in the brutal murder of Italy-based Malkit Singh at Raja Sansi in Amritsar. Sophisticated weapons were recovered from the possession of the men who were planning to carry out sensational crimes in the state, said Director General of Police, Punjab, Gaurav Yadav here on Saturday.
Yadav said that the arrested men have been identified as Bikramjit Singh alias Bikram, a resident of Dhariwal village in Amritsar, and Karanbir Singh, a resident of village Saisra Kalan in Amritsar. The recovered weapons include one foreign-made .30 caliber PX5 pistol, one .30 caliber pistol, one foreign-made .45 caliber pistol, one .32 caliber pistol and one revolver along with 20 live cartridges from their possession.
Two unidentified persons had opened fire at Malkit Singh when he was sowing wheat in his field at Dhariwal village, along with his father, on November 1 at around 7pm. Due to severe injuries, Malkit Singh succumbed to his wounds in the hospital.
Yadav said that Bikramjit is associated with the terrorist organization KLF and has a criminal history with cases registered under the Explosives Act, Attempt to Murder, and Arms Act. He was also involved in the 2018 grenade attack on a religious place at Raja Sansi, he said.
He said preliminary investigations revealed that, on the directions of his foreign handlers, Bikramjit had procured illegal weapons from across the border.
Sharing operational details, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Border Range) Sandeep Goel said that acting on reliable inputs, police teams from Amritsar Rural under the overall supervision of SSP Maninder Singh arrested Bikramjit near Gurdwara Sahib at village Dhariwal. On the disclosure of Bikram, Karanbir was arrested from Adda near Kukranwala, he said. The police teams were led by DSP Gurinder Nagra.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Amritsar Rural) Maninder Singh said that further investigations are underway to establish forward and backward linkages in this case to expose the full nexus. More arrests and recoveries are likely in the coming days, he added.
In this regard, a case FIR no. 177 dated November 2 had been registered under sections 103(1) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act at Police Station Raja Sansi in Amritsar Rural.