Possible terror attack thwarted with one arrest, hand grenade seized: Punjab Police

Chandigarh: Punjab Police on Tuesday claimed to have averted a possible terror attack in the state with the arrest of an operative linked to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency and seized a hand grenade from his possession.

Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said the accused has been identified as Jaiveer Tyagi alias Jawed, a native of Baroli village from Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district and was currently residing in Ludhiana.

The Counterintelligence (CI) team of Amritsar received an input revealing the abroad-based person, Sehlam, who is working for Pakistan's ISI agency, along with his cousin Jaiveer Tyagi, he said.

The two accused had been hatching a conspiracy to target the government infrastructure through terror attacks in various cities to disturb peace and harmony of the state, the officer added.

It was further revealed that Jaiveer had also retrieved the consignment of a hand grenade from Amritsar and is waiting for his other accomplices near Tara Wala Pul in Amritsar to commit a major crime, Yadav said.

He said that based on the inputs, police teams launched an intelligence led operation and apprehended the accused Jaiveer and recovered a hand grenade from his possession.

The DGP said that further investigations revealed that the accused had been residing in Ludhiana for the last 14 to 15 years and was in contact with Sehlam through encrypted messaging applications.

Probe also revealed that on his brother's instructions, he had procured the grenade. Further investigations are on to establish forward and backward linkages in this case, the officer said.

Meanwhile, the CI team of Ferozepur busted a cross-border drug smuggling racket with the arrest of a smuggler and seized 3.50 kilogram of heroin from his possession, officials said.

The accused has been identified as Sukhdev Singh alias Sukhi, from Mohan Ke Uttar in Ferozepur, they said.

Yadav said preliminary investigation revealed that the accused was in direct contact with the Pakistan-based smuggler, who was using drones to drop the drug consignments from across the border.

Further investigation is underway to trace the forward and backward linkages in this case, he added.

Police said based on a tip-off about the involvement of Sukhdev in smuggling activities, teams launched an intelligence-based operation in the Lakho Ke Behram village in Ferozepur and apprehended him along with seven packets of heroin, weighing 500 grams each, kept in a plastic bag.

The officer said the accused was going to deliver the consignment to someone, when police teams apprehended him.

Efforts are on to uncover the entire network of suppliers, dealers, and buyers, and to identify the person to whom the accused was to deliver the drug consignment, he said.

More recoveries and arrests are likely in the coming days, police said.