Terror module busted in Punjab had offshore links

The Punjab Police have traced the handlers of suspects arrested for the murder of RSS and Shiv Sena leaders to the UK, Italy and Canada.

The role of militant outfit Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) is being investigated as part of a larger conspiracy designed and perpetrated by Pakistan's ISI, Punjab DGP Suresh Arora said on Friday.

The main assailant in the targeted killings, including that of RSS leader Brigadier Gagneja last year, was arrested on Friday, taking the total number of arrests to five.

Funding from foreign sources has been confirmed, a source said.

The conspiracy to target minority leaders to create communal strife and destabilise Punjab had been hatched by some militant operatives based in foreign countries, including Pakistan, the UK, Italy, Canada and some European countries, the DGP said.

The modus operandi of the accused was to select RSS leaders for causing communal disharmony in Punjab.

On Friday, Hardeep Singh was arrested from a Gymnasium in Fatehgarh Sahib. Hardeep had fled the country after the killings.

"He fled to Italy on August 12, 2016, after killing Brigadier Gagneja," the DGP said.

The probe into Brig Gagneja's murder, which sparked outrage, was handed over to the CBI. But the central agency could not trace the killers.

Jimmy Singh, who recently returned to India from the UK, was apprehended on November 1 from Delhi's IGI airport. Another accused, Jagtar Singh Johal, a UK national, got married last month and was apprehended in Jalandhar.

With these arrests, apart from the killing of seven leaders, the police have also unravelled the mystery behind the two attacks on RSS Shakhas and firing on Amit Arora, a Ludhiana based right-wing leader.