Punjab Police on Friday claimed the rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) attack case in which tourists targeted the Sarhali Police Station, Tarn Taran on December 9 was solved. They also claimed to have arrested the mastermind of the attack Lakhbir Singh Landa along with six others.
“We have solved the RPG attack case which was carried out at the Sarhali Police Station, Tarn Taran on December 9. In this attack, a 70 mm caliber RPG 26 was used which was normally used by Mujahideen and it was sourced from across the border in a consignment,” said Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav
Mastermind was Lakhbir Singh Landa, a wanted terrorist who is sitting in Canada and he got it executed the crime through his 2 Europe-based handlers-Satbir Satta and Gurdev Jassal, he added.
"In this case, so far w have arrested 7 people including two juveniles. We have RPG 26 and the launcher, one 32 bore pistol with 15 bullets, hand grenades, 30 bore pistol with 35 live bullets and 32 bore pistol with 5 live bullets, and the bike used in crime also recovered," said Punjab DGP.
Earlier, in a joint operation, NIA and police recovered one of three rocket launchers used to target a police station in Punjab's border district of Tarn Taran, sources said on Monday (December 12). According to the sources, at least three rocket-propelled grenades (RPG) were dispatched to local terror sleeper cells by Pakistani drones. Search operations are underway to find the rest of the RPGs.
Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF)’s Lakhbir Singh Landa would be the key conspirator of the attack, sources added. Gangster Landa, who is currently in Canada, hatched a plot with Pakistan’s ISI to attack Punjab. While elaborating on the modus operandi, the sources asserted that Landa and International Sikh Youth Federation chief Lakhbir Singh Rode built his network in Taran Taran in order to execute the plan.
Attacked on police station
Notably, a rocket-propelled grenade hit a police station in Punjab's border district of Tarn Taran on Saturday, the second such attack in the state in the last seven months with DGP Gaurav Yadav describing it as a "strategy of the neighbouring nation to bleed India by a thousand cuts".
There was no casualty in Friday night's RPG attack in which windowpanes of a building adjoining the Sarhali police station were damaged, officials said.
According to preliminary information, it was military-grade hardware, the DGP said, adding it was suspected to have been smuggled from across the border.
"There is a clear indication that it is a strategy of the neighbouring nation to bleed India by a thousand cuts," the DGP said pointing to Pakistan which has been sponsoring terrorism in India.
In coordination with the BSF and central agencies, the Punjab Police will investigate the matter, he said.
Some unidentified people fired the projectile which hit the Saanjh Kendra adjoining the Sarhali police station on the Amritsar-Bathinda highway on Friday night, police said.
Saanjh Kendra centre provides services like copies of FIRs, passport verification and no-objection certificates.
Earlier in May, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) was fired at the Punjab Police's intelligence headquarters located in Mohali.
Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav, who visited the site, said that according to a preliminary investigation, the grenade was fired by using an RPG from the highway at 11:22 pm and it hit the Suvidha Centre of the Sarhali police station.
“We have registered an FIR under UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) in this regard," the DGP told the media here. Yadav said police have recovered the rocket launcher and propeller.
“We are investigating technically and forensically. We are collecting clues from the scene of the crime to reconstruct what happened,” the DGP said.
(With agency input)
Also Read: Punjab: NIA recovers rocket launcher used for attacking Taran Taran Police Station
