Amritsar Rural Police bust terror module, one held

The Amritsar Rural Police on Friday foiled a major terror plot and arrested a man suspected of carrying out terrorist activities in Punjab at the behest of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

A powerful improvised explosive device (IED) was recovered from his possession and a case has been registered.

According to police sources, the accused, identified as Harman Singh of Umarpura village under the Ajnala police station, is being interrogated to uncover his network and handlers. Central intelligence agencies are also expected to question the suspect.

The IED, a tiffin bomb weighing around 500 grams along with a battery, was seized from Harman’s residence. The police also confiscated his mobile phone for forensic analysis.

Though police officials remained tight-lipped, sources said that the preliminary probe has revealed the presence of several suspicious mobile numbers on the accused’s phone. The accused allegedly made calls to Pakistan through internet-based calling platforms.

The device is suspected to have been dropped on the Indian side by Pakistan-based handlers using a drone from the Ramdass area.

The police are also probing whether the arrested man has any connection with the recent grenade attack at the Bhindi Saida police station, as further investigations are underway.

Since January, the Punjab Police have recovered around five RDX-laden IEDs. While the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) seized three powerful IEDs from different parts of the border state on February 10, 11 and 28, the Amritsar Rural Police recovered another IED from the backside of the Rayya police chowki on the intervening night of February 20 and 21. Similarly, the Counter Intelligence (CI), Jalandhar, recovered an IED containing 2.5 kg of RDX from Hoshiarpur on January 23.

According to senior police officials, such recoveries in the region are often linked to attempts targeting police establishments or broader terror plots across multiple states, including Punjab and Delhi. However, security forces have consistently neutralised such threats through swift response and coordinated intelligence operations.