New Delhi: Punjab Police has claimed to have disrupted an alleged Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-sponsored Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terror module. Officers arrested a key operative and recovered a hand grenade that investigators believe was linked to a planned attack.
Punjab Police director general, Gaurav Yadav, said the operation was carried out jointly by the force’s Jalandhar counterintelligence wing and SBS Nagar Police. Police said an 86-P hand grenade was recovered during the operation, which they described as a breakthrough against cross-border terror networks.
According to the preliminary findings shared by the police, the arrested operative allegedly obtained the grenade from Adampur in Jalandhar district after receiving instructions from handlers based outside India. The police have not disclosed the identity of the accused or provided details of the alleged target of the planned attack.
The case has been registered at Sadar police station in Nawanshahr, SBS Nagar, under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Explosive Substances Act.
Investigators are now attempting to establish the wider structure of the alleged module. The probe is expected to focus on the foreign-based handlers, possible local associates and the channels through which instructions and logistical support were allegedly provided to operatives in Punjab.
The recovery of the grenade has also brought attention to the alleged use of dead-letter boxes (DLBs) in the network. A DLB is a covert method in which an item or message is left at a predetermined location for another person to collect, allowing those involved to avoid direct contact. Police had said the recovered grenade was allegedly procured from a DLB near Adampur.
The latest operation comes amid continued efforts by Punjab Police to track networks that allegedly operate across the India-Pakistan border. Investigators are also examining the links between individuals operating within the state and handlers based abroad.
In a separate operation earlier, the Punjab Police’s Ferozepur counterintelligence wing and the Border Security Force arrested two alleged members of a cross-border narcotics-smuggling network in Fazilka district.
The two accused, identified as Sukhwinder Singh and Manpreet Singh, were arrested near Satirwala village following a specific intelligence input. Police recovered 30.200kg of heroin and seized the motorcycle allegedly being used to transport the consignment.
A case was registered at the State Special Operation Cell police station in Fazilka under Sections 21-C, 25 and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
Police said further arrests and recoveries could follow in the narcotics case as the investigation progresses. The two operations are separate cases, but both form part of recent Punjab Police action against alleged cross-border networks involving terrorism and narcotics.
For the BKI case, however, the central focus remains on tracing the alleged foreign handlers and determining the full extent of the network operating through Punjab.