STF Karnal arrests Lawrence Bishnoi-Kala Rana gang member; 2 hand grenades, IED recovered

In a major breakthrough, the Special Task Force (STF), Karnal, arrested a key operative of the Lawrence Bishnoi-Kala Rana gang and recovered two live hand grenades and 1.5kg Improvised Explosive Device (IED) containing RDX, averting a major criminal incident.

The arrested accused, identified as Amar Singh, was intercepted by the STF Karnal unit based on intelligence inputs from Indri road on November 25. The team, led by STF Inspector Deepender Singh, stopped his SUV vehicle on Karnal-Indri Road and recovered an illegal foreign-made Glock automatic pistol along with five live cartridges.

“A case was registered at Sadar Police Station under Section 111(4) BNS and 25(6)-54-59 Arms Act. He was produced in the court on Wednesday which granted him six-day police remand,” said B Satheesh Balan, Inspector General of Police (IGP) STF.

Accompanied with SP STF Waseem Akram and Karnal SP Ganga Ram Punia, IGP Balan said that during intensive interrogation on November 27, he confessed that he had recently brought explosives and grenades to Karnal on the directions of his gang leaders to execute a major criminal strike. He informed that the explosives were hidden in a plastic bag at an isolated patch near Jhijhari village, behind Karna Lake in Karnal.

Acting on this information, the STF team dug up the spot and recovered two live hand grenades and an IED. FSL and bomb disposal squad teams were called to the scene, and the explosives were safely secured, said the IGP.

He maintained that Amar Singh had stored the explosives at his home for a few days in Meerut before concealing them in the open area. The gang — whose key leaders Kala Rana and his father Joginder Singh are already in jail under UAPA and organised crime charges — had planned to trigger unrest in Karnal and neighbouring districts.

Appreciating the efforts of the STF Karnal, the IGP said that the swift action of STF members prevented a potentially dangerous incident.

About his criminal history, the IGP said that Amar Singh is a history-sheeter. As many as 10 cases had been registered against him, including murder, kidnapping, arms smuggling, robbery and gangster activities across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. His previous offences include killing of MLA candidate Shiv Kumar Yadav, his driver and gunman in October 2017 in Noida. He was accused of kidnapping and murder of Vivek Rana after joining the Monu Rana gang on May 17, 2018. On June 20, 2018, a case was registered against him for looting a vehicle belonging to a retired Colonel at a highway dhaba in Yamunanagar district. Multiple other cases under IPC, Arms Act and Gangster Act have been registered in Noida, Ghaziabad and Ambala, the IGP said.

“Further investigation is going on, which may reveal more links and planned attacks,” said the IGP.