Sacha Sauda head escapes assassination

Phagwara, Dec 13: The Punjab Police have foiled an attempt by Babbar Khalsa International(BKI) terrorists to assassinate Sirsa-based Sacha Sauda head Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh and heads of two other sects.

Kapurthala SSP Rakesh Aggarwal told mediapersons that three members of the BKI module identified as Gurinder Singh, a local Friends Colony resident, Zorawar Singh alias Zora of Mandi Gobindgarh and Parmider Singh alias Babloo of Amloh in district Fatehgarh Sahib were arrested and two improvised explosive devices (IED) assembled by using 9.75 kg high quality RDX recovered.

Giving details Mr Aggarwal said besides the explosive devices the police also recovered 300 gms RDX, two detonators, two timers, 40 cartridges of different bores, four boxes of other explosive material, two kg of copper wire and two mobile phones along with several other articles.

Mr Aggarwal said 12 other BKI gang members including its kingpin Gurpreet Singh of Mullapur Dakha in Ludhiana district were still at large. Gurpreet had been absconding since September this year when three kg RDX was recovered from a car owned by him near Mullapur village.

The SSP said the arrested BKI members have confessed that Gurpreet was running a terrorist training camp in Garrhi Mansowal village near Garhshankar in district Hoshiarpur. The three were imparted training in assembling explosive devices at this camp.

Mr Agarwal said the module was assigned the task to eliminate Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh besides Baba Ashutosh head of the Noormahal based Divya Jyoti Sansthan and Baba Bhaniara Wala. Besides several politicians, including Anti-Terrorists Front chairperson and former All India Youth Congress chief Maninderjit Singh Bitta was also on the hit list of this group, he said.

Replying to a question, he said the arrested terrorists may be involved in the Shingar cinema bomb blast in Ludhiana, in which six people were killed 33 others injured.

''We are investigating whether Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his family were their targets or not,'' he said in reply to another query.

He said several sensational disclosures were expected from the terrorists. The police has launched a massive manhunt to nab the absconding terrorists, including kingpin Gurpreet Singh.

UNI