2 held after Punjab Police busts ISI-backed drone-based KTF terror module

Punjab Police busted Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) backed drone-based Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) terror module and apprehended two of its operatives from Chamkaur Sahib area, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab, Gaurav Yadav on Sunday.

According to Punjab Police, the terror module is being operated by Canada-based terrorist/gangster Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dala, who is a close associate of KTF's Canada-based chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Those arrested have been identified as Veeja Singh alias Gagan alias Gaggu, a resident of Chand Nava village in Moga and Ranjodh Singh alias Jyoti, a resident of Ganji Gulab Singh Wala village in Moga. The Police also recovered two illegal weapons including a 0.22 bore revolver and 0.32 bore pistol along with 21 live cartridges from their possession.

The development came four days after Police had recovered an AK-47 assault rifle along with two magazines and 60 live cartridges from a pinpointed location at the paddy fields of village Arifke in Ferozepur.

Police investigations revealed that the consignment was dropped using a drone on the direction of terrorist/gangster Arsh Dala and was intended to be retrieved by Veeja Singh and Ranjodh Singh from Arifke village.

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said that after the recovery of the weapons from Ferozepur, an intelligence-led operation was launched across the state to nab the accused persons. Acting on inputs, Rupnagar Police has managed to arrest both the accused persons from Chamkaur Sahib area during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

DGP Yadav said that during preliminary investigations, arrested persons confessed that they had gone to Arifke village to retrieve this consignment on directions of terrorist/gangster Arsh Dala but could not find it, and later, it was recovered by the Ferozepur Police on the information of a field owner.

"Both accused have also confessed to having received few drone-based weapon consignments to further deliver them at specific locations as directed by Canada-based Terrorist/Gangster Arsh Dala, which was to be used further for major target killings to disturb communal harmony of the state," said the DGP.

An FIR has been registered under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 25 of the Arms Act at Chamkaur Sahib police station.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Rupnagar, Sandeep Garg said that further investigations are underway and more arrests are expected soon.

According to Police, Canada-based Arsh Dala, a native of Dala village in Moga, is a notorious gangster turned terrorist involved in various criminal activities in Punjab and abroad, and is most wanted by the Punjab Police.

His involvement had also emerged in various targeted killings that took place in the border state of Punjab, besides, in cases of supplying militant hardware including RDX, IEDs, AK-47 and other arms and ammunition to modules in the state after getting them imported from Pakistan, said police.

DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the process is on to extradite Arsh Dala from Canada and soon, he will be brought to India. Notably, the Red Corner Notice against Arsh Dala has already been issued in May 2022.