DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) in a joint operation with Udham Singh Nagar district police on Saturday arrested four men who allegedly provided accommodation and other assistance to the accused in the last year’s Punjab bomb blasts case.
The blasts accused, Sukhpreet Singh aka Sukh, is on the run, said the police. In November last year Pathankot, Navashehar and Ludhiana in Punjab were rocked by explosions. Ajay Singh, senior superintendent of police, STF said: “We have recovered a .32 bore pistol and a car from their (the four arrested men) possession and booked them under Section 25 (1A) of the Arms Act 1959 and Section 19 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) 1967. The four accused have been produced in court. We have also informed the central agencies and the Punjab police.”
The four arrested men were identified as Shamsher Singh alias Shera (26), Harpreet Singh alias Happy (24), Gurpal Singh alias Guri Dhillon (24) and Ajmer Singh alias Laddi. Police said they are associated with Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), and were in contact with handlers in Australia, Serbia and Canada via internet and WhatsApp calling.
The STF official said last November, there were two terror incidents. In one, unidentified persons hurled grenades in Pathankot while another grenade attack took place outside an army camp in the same city.
Barinderjit Singh, senior superintendent of police, Udham Singh Nagar district, said: “After an intel was shared by the Punjab Police, we started a joint operation with the STF. Raids were conducted at suspected hideouts in Pantnagar town from where we nabbed the four accused.”