Chandigarh: Militants of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) revealed that four drones, from across the border, are hidden in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district and its surrounding areas. Reports had earlier emerged that drones were being sent from Pakistan to drop weapons. The information came to light after the police busted a terror module of the KZF, backed by a group based in Pakistan and Germany.
Gurdev Singh, a resident of Hoshiarpur, was nabbed by a team of the state special operation cell (SSOC) of the Punjab police for his alleged involvement in the dropping of arms and ammunition by drones. Singh was brought to India from Thailand but was absconding after he received bail. He is the brother of a Germany-based handler, Gurmeet Singh Bagga, of terror module, KZF. Gurmeet Singh, alias Doctor, who along with KZF chief Ranjeet Singh, alias Neeta, was involved in the delivery of arms and ammunition from Pakistan by using drones.
Gurdev is the sixth person to have been arrested. Four members of the module Balwant Singh, alias Nihang; Akashdeep Singh, alias Akash Randhawa; Harbhajan Singh and Balbir Singh were arrested from the outskirts of Chohla Sahib village in Tarn Taran. Another person, identified as Sukhdeep Singh, was arrested by police with a pistol.
A drone was recovered from Mahawa village, close to the Indo-Pak border in Punjab’s Amritsar. The Special Operations Wing of the Punjab police are still to ascertain whether the drone is among the four that had been indicated in the KZF militants’ statement to the police. The intelligence unit found another drone after a terror accused, Akashdeep, took them to the location in Punjab's Attari, near the border with Pakistan where the drone had gone down. "This drone couldn't return to Pakistan due to a malfunction, so the accused hid it at a village near the Attari border," senior police officer Balbir Singh of the counter-intelligence unit said. The drone was kept hidden beneath the undergrowth of a paddy field at the village.
Details of the drone were promptly shared with the central government for facilitating detailed technical investigations by concerned central agencies, a government statement read. The police are trying to establish links of the terror groups involved in sending these drones from Pakistan, a spokesperson said. The Army and the BSF had even sounded an all-out alert along the Indo-Pak border and Line of Control (LoC) following reports of the drones. The National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) is conducting a sweep exercise to find out how many phones were functional along the International Border at the time of drone activity. They will also submit a report to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Union Minister of State for Defence Shripad Yesso Naik said that India is capable of dealing with any situation and the Indian Army has emerged stronger after fighting terrorism.
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh had earlier urged Union home minister Amit Shah to address the “drone problem” as soon as possible. Five AK-47 rifles, 16 magazines and 472 rounds of ammunition, four Chinese-made 30 bore pistols, along with eight magazines and 72 rounds of ammunition; nine hand grenades, five satellite phones with their ancillary equipment, two mobile phones, two wireless sets and fake currency with face value of Rs 10,00,000 were seized by the police.
