Punjab police foil major terror plot, huge cache of arms recovered

Punjab police on Wednesday said they have foiled a major terror plot orchestrated by Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Rinda and recovered a cache of arms from a forest area in Gurdaspur.

Preliminary investigation has found that the consignment was pushed into India by Pakistani agencies and Rinda as part of a premeditated plan to carry out attacks at multiple locations in Punjab, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said.

"In an intelligence-led operation, the Anti-Gangster Task Force (#AGTF), Punjab successfully foiled a major terror plot orchestrated by Harwinder Rinda, a Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) operative based in #Pakistan and backed by Pakistan's ISI," Yadav posted on X.

The DGP said acting swiftly on human intelligence, AGTF teams traced and recovered a large cache of terrorist hardware, including two AK-47 rifles with 16 live cartridges, two magazines, and two P-86 (high explosive) hand grenades from a forest area in Gurdaspur, before it could reach Harwinder Rinda's associates.

"Preliminary investigation reveals the recovered consignment was pushed into India by Pakistani agencies and Harwinder @ Rinda as part of a premeditated plan to carry out attacks at multiple locations in Punjab, aiming to disrupt public peace," he said.

An FIR under the Explosives Act and the Arms Act has been registered at Purana Shala police station in Gurdaspur, he said.

"Further investigations are underway to identify and apprehend Rinda's operatives involved in the recovered weapon consignment," the DGP said.