Militant module busted in Punjab, 5 arrested

A militant module has been busted and five of its "highly radicalised" youths arrested in Punjab, police said Sunday.

The accused were allegedly planning to kill Hindu leaders and members of Dera Sacha Sauda, as per a State Special Operations Cell, Punjab police, release here.

One .32 bore pistol (along with magazine and four live rounds) and 15 letter pads of 'Babbar Khalsa International' have been recovered from the arrested, the release said.

The arrested are residents of Punjab and Haryana, identified as Harvinder Singh from Panchkula, Sultan Singh from Kurukshetra, Karamjeet Singh from Moga, Lovepreet Singh from Sangrur, and Gurpreet Singh resident of Chandigarh, it read.

"They are planning to kill specific targets including Hindu leaders and members of Dera Sacha Sauda, who were allegedly responsible for incidents of sacrilege/desecration," said Assistant Inspector General, SSOC, Varinderpaul Singh.

The arrested youths were radicalised over social media by suspected persons based in Europe, he said, adding they were planning to commit various violent acts to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state.

A police case has been registered in Mohali.

"These highly radicalised youth were in (the) process of mobilisation of funds, and already had procured weapons. They were planning to arrange weapons training in Jammu and Kashmir.

"They were in touch with militants including Jagtar Singh Hawara of Babbar Khalsa who is in jail, Ranjit Singh Pakhoke, active member of Khalistan Tiger Force, residing in Germany," Singh said.

Police said further investigation was underway.