Punjab Police bust inter-state 'terror' module

The Punjab Police has busted a "terror" module involved in serious crimes, including the killing of Dera Sacha Sauda follower and a religious preacher in Rajasthan, by arresting two of its members, a state government spokesperson said.
The members of the inter-state "militant" module were arrested yesterday from different places by the coordinated intelligence-led operations of the police at Nawanshehar, Ferozepur and Kapurthala districts, he said here.
Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi was nabbed from Kohala village in Ferozepur district, the spokesperson said, adding that another suspect Ashok Kumar alias Aman managed to escape.
While, Avtar Singh alias Pamma, also a resident of Kohala, was apprehended from Bhanolanga village in Kapurthala, he said.

The spokesperson said claimed that investigations revealed their involvement in the killing of Gurdev Singh, a Dera Sacha Sauda follower in Burj Jawahar Singh Wala village in Faridkot district on June 13 last year.
"They were also involved in the killing of Baba Lakha Singh alias Lakhwinder Singh in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan on November 23, 2016," he said.

Preliminary investigations have revealed that various other targets were on the radar of this module and the suspects, the spokesperson said.
He said that they had also carried out a recce of some of these targets.
Police have recovered from the arrested "militants" a 12 bore rifle and .32 bore revolver, he said.

In follow-up action this morning, the Ferozepur police seized the car that was used by them to flee after killing Gurdev, the spokesperson said.
"The vehicle is registered in the name of a close associate of Gurpreet. The police is also probing how Ashok managed to get licensed weapons in 2016," he said.
"Further investigations have revealed that another associate of the duo, identified as Jaswant Singh Kala of Sonewala village, was also a key member of the "terror" module responsible for the killings and a manhunt had been launched for him, along with Ashok," the spokesperson said.
Two separate FIRs have been registered against the members of the "militant" module in the districts of Ferozepur and Kapurthala under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Arms Act and relevant sections of the IPC, he said.

The state police, acting on the directives of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, had launched investigations into unsolved cases, cracked down on suspected terrorists and criminals who had been on the run, the spokesperson said.