The BSF and Punjab Police in a joint operation on Sunday claimed to have busted a terror module with links to Canada and Pakistan after arresting two suspected Khalistani terrorists.
The two were arrested from the Indo-Pak border area when they were trying to recover weapons that were earlier smuggled into India from Pakistan, a Punjab Police spokesperson said.
Those arrested have been identified as Mann Singh (40) from Sri Hargobindpur in Gurdaspur and Sher Singh (28) from Kartarpur in Jalandhar.Punjab Police spokesperson said
Security forces have seized an AK-47 assault rifle, five hand grenades, a modified machine-pistol (MP), five pistols and over 450 rounds of ammunition of different calibre from the duo, he said.
The spokesman also said:
The terrorists during preliminary interrogation have said their module was raised and indoctrinated by an Ontario-based Sikh hardliner Gurjivan Singh, who was in touch with them for the past two years, and had motivated them to commit terror strikes in Punjab. Gurjivan made two trips to Punjab in the last six months and had arranged the arms and ammunition for their operations through his Pakistan-based Khalistani contacts.
The spokesman said they were planning to target "enemies of the Panth". They also said during his last two trips to Punjab, Gurjivan had imparted them theoretical training on handling arms, including the AK-47 rifle, he said.
The Punjab Police spokesman added:
One of the arrested has said the Ontario-based hardliner travelled with them to Uttar Pradesh to procure arms, but were unsuccessful. Subsequently, Gurjivan had promised to arrange it through his Khalistani contacts in Pakistan and their ISI handlers.
During the interrogation, Mann also confessed to having made several visits to Pakistan and being in touch with some Khalistani activists there, he claimed.
The spokesman also said that the arms and ammunition seized during the operation were found buried close to the Indo-Pak border and the suspects had been provided with the coordinates of the spot.
The suspects had reached the border early this morning and were looking for the spot when the BSF personnel apprehended them, he said. According to the spokesman, the suspects are being interrogated and their immigration records are being retrieved to track Gurjivan's movements.
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