Punjab Police busts KZF terror module, arrests 3 in hand grenade attack case

Chandigarh: Punjab Police on Saturday claimed to have solved a hand grenade attack case with the arrest of three members of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terror module.

Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav identified the arrested people as Yugpreet Singh alias Yuvi, a from Mohalla Qazian, Jaskaran Singh alias Shah, a resident of Mohalla Jagoteyan and Harjot Singh alias Jot, from Dugglan Mohalla in Rahon.

Police teams also recovered two firearms -- a country-made pistol and a revolver -- along with six live cartridges from their possession, he said.

The arrests were made in less than two weeks after some people attacked the Police Post Asron in the Kathgarn police station in Nawanshahr by hurling a hand grenade in its premises on December 2.

The DGP said that the trio are members of the KZF terror module controlled by handlers based in Germany, United Kingdom (UK) and other countries. They were tasked with targeting police establishments and minority leaders in Punjab and Haryana.

The module had allegedly Rs 4.5 lakh in funding over the past six months, he said.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused retrieved the hand grenade from a 'dead letter box' (DLB) located on GT Road in Jalandhar on November 28 and later hurled it at Police Post Asron in SBS Nagar on December 2, Yadav said.

A DLB is a secret location used to exchange information or items between two people without meeting in person.

Assistant Inspector General Navjot Singh Mahal said that in an intelligence based operation, a police team set up a special check post near railway crossing in SBS Nagar city. The accused were arrested while they were travelling towards Nawanshahr bus stand on their motorcycle.

He said further investigation is underway to to establish forward and backward linkages in the matter.