Tiffin bomb found in fields at Ferozepur

Anirudh Gupta

Advertisement

Ferozepur, November 5

In a joint search operation carried out by sleuths of the Counter-Intelligence Wing based in Ludhiana and Ferozepur on the eve of Diwali, the Punjab Police recovered a second tiffin bomb concealed in the fields at Alike village along the Pakistan border in the district.

On Monday, the police had arrested two suspects for harbouring the main accused in the Jalalabad motorcycle blast case. During investigations, they admitted to be in possession of another tiffin bomb stashed away in fields. A joint search operation was carried out on Wednesday, leading to the recovery.

Those arrested were identified as Jaswant Singh, alias Shinda Baba, a resident of Jhugge Nihanga Wale village in Ferozepur, and Balwant Singh of Walipur Khurd village in Ludhiana. They were accused of providing shelter and logistical support to Ranjit Singh, alias Gora, wanted in the Jalalabad blast case. Ranjit, too, has reportedly been arrested. However, another accused, Tarlok Singh, is at large.

The investigation pertains to a motorcycle blast outside a Punjab National Bank branch in Jalalabad on September 15, killing Balwinder Singh, alias Bindu, of Jhugge Nihanga Wale village.

Later, the police launched a probe, following which three accused were arrested and a tiffin bomb, two pen drives and Rs 1.15 lakh in cash recovered. Those arrested included main accused Sukhwinder Singh, alias Sukha, his brother-in-law Praveen Kumar and another suspect Shoukeen.

On October 1, the probe was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which conducted raids at many locations and seized electronic devices and incriminating documents. It was revealed the accused were in touch with Pakistan-based terrorists and had been recruited to carry out terror attacks using arms and explosives.

Additional Director General of Police (Internal Security) RN Dhoke said further investigations in the case were on and more arrests were expected soon.

In the past few months, tiffin bombs have been recovered from Amritsar (Rural), Kapurthala, Fazilka and Tarn Taran.

On November 1, a case under Sections 212 and 216 of the Indian Penal Code, and 18 and 19 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was registered at the Sidhwan Bet police station in Ludhiana (Rural).