On 8th September 2022, Punjab police busted a major terror module in Tarn Taran. Three persons possessing 1.5 kg IED-RDX and two pistols were arrested by the Punjab Police. The three accused were in touch with Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh Landa and Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda. This information was given by Punjab’s Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav. Police have also identified 25 other operatives of the terror network.
According to a report by Amar Ujala, DGP Gaurav Yadav informed that the arrested accused include the main culprit of installing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Shahbad area of Haryana’s Kurukshetra district. He has been identified as Nachhatar Singh alias Moti of Bhattal Sahaj Singh village in Tarn Taran. The other two arrested accused have been identified as Sukhdev Singh alias Shera, a resident of Gandiwind village, and Harpreet Singh alias Happy alias Billa, a resident of Nowshera Pannuan village in Tarn Taran.
Police have recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) from them. Detonators, RDX weighing 1.5 kg, two pistols of .30 bore and .315 bore, eight cartridges, and an unnumbered bike have also been recovered from the arrested accused. The DGP said, “As per the preliminary investigation, it has come to light that the three accused were in direct contact with Lakhbir Landa and were involved in extortion and large-scale cross-border smuggling of arms, explosives, and drugs.”
Tarn Taran SSP Ranjit Singh Dhillon said, “Following credible information, a police team from Sarhali police station conducted an operation to arrest these culprits and recovered two pistols from their possession. Later, according to the information told by Nachattar Singh during the primary interrogation, police teams also recovered an IED hidden outside Ratok village in Tarn Taran.”
The SSP said that the Landa-Rinda gang has a network of around 40-50 operatives. Of these, 25 operatives have been identified and a search operation has been launched to nab them. “Further investigation is on and further recovery of arms and explosives is expected”, he said.
All of them have been booked under sections 389, 25(6), 26(7)(i) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), sections 4 and 5 of the Explosives Act, and 21, 31-59-85 of the NDPS Act at police station Sarhali in Tarn Taran.
Lakhbir Singh Landa (33) hails Tarn Taran, he fled to Canada in 2017. He was the one who planned the Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) terror attack on the Intelligence Headquarters of Punjab Police in Mohali. An IED was also planted at his behest under the car of sub-inspector Dilbagh Singh in Amritsar. He is believed to be an associate of Pakistan-based wanted terrorist Harvinder Singh alias Rinda.
