The four suspected terrorists, who were detained with explosives and ammunition from a toll plaza in Haryana's Karnal on Thursday, 5 May, have been sent to police remand for ten days till 15 May.
The accused persons were identified as Gurpreet, Amandeep, Parminder, and Bhupinder. All four are residents of Punjab, ANI reported the police as saying. They were taken to court from the CIA Police station in Karnal after being arrested.
Earlier, the Punjab Police put a tweet, saying, "In an intelligence-led operation, Punjab Police and Haryana Police arrested 4 persons today at Karnal with the recovery of 3 IEDs weighing 2.5 Kg each and one pistol. Further investigation is on."
Meanwhile, the Haryana Police said, "All four accused were apprehended around 4:30 am (on Thursday) and have been arrested. Three IEDs, Rs 1.30 lakh in cash have also been recovered. All will be produced in court and taken on remand. A probe will be conducted to ascertain the involvement of another terrorist group," reported ANI.
"An FIR has been registered under Sections 13, 18, and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Sections 4 and 5 under the Explosive Substances Act, 1908, and Section 25 under the Arms Act, 1959," the police added.
Gurpreet, who is the key accused, used to deliver explosives throughout India. He was earlier in jail, where he had met a Rajbeer, who had links with Pakistan, the police said, adding that all four had links with Pakistan, and that they were taking orders from a terrorist named Harvinder Singh, based in Pakistan.
'Suspects Were Going to Deliver Arms in Telangana': Police
The four men were arrested at 4 am at Karnal's Bastara toll plaza while they were on their way to Delhi in a white Toyota Innova SUV.
The accused were allegedly going to deliver explosives to Telangana's Adilabad, and had dropped explosives earlier in Maharashtra's Nanded.
"Desi pistol, 31 live ammunition (rounds), three iron containers with explosives and nearly Rs 1.3 lakh have been recovered," said Superintendent of Police (SP) of Karnal Ram Poonia.
He added that Gurpreet received explosives from across the border with the help of a drone in Punjab's Ferozepur. The police said that the four meant used to deliver consignments of explosives across India, adding that they had links with Pakistan's espionage agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
"Preliminary information suggests they were basically acting as couriers and transporting these arms and ammunition in an Innova vehicle and were headed to Adilabad in Telangana," said Karnal Range Inspector General of Police Satender Kumar Gupta, as per PTI.
Gupta added that the accused persons would be produced before a court and taken on police remand, after which they will be questioned in detail.
Meanwhile, ANI quoted Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij as saying that "Police nabbed four terrorists. Three IEDs, one country-made pistol, 31 live cartridges, 1.31 lakh cash, and six mobile phones recovered from them. They got explosives from Pakistan through drones and were tasked with carrying them to Adilabad in Telangana."
(With inputs from ANI and PTI.)
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