New Delhi: The investigation into the 18 December grenade attack on a police post in Punjab’s Gurdaspur has revealed that the three suspected Khalistan Zindabad Force operatives, who allegedly carried out the attack, received spells of funding from terror operatives living abroad. They allegedly bought the phone used in the attack with foreign funds, ThePrint has learnt.
The three suspects — Gurvinder Singh (25), who was facing two criminal cases in Punjab, and Virender Singh alias Ravi (23) and Jaspreet Singh (18)— died Monday, allegedly after a police encounter in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit.
Investigators said that Gurvinder Singh had two cases against him. He was slapped with Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 379B (snatching) and 411 (dishonestly receiving or retaining stolen property) in 2021 and, in 2023, 379B (snatching) and 34 (common intentions) in connection with a separate case.
Border Range DIG Satinder Singh told ThePrint that Gurvinder Singh was arrested in both cases and was out on bail when he planned and orchestrated the grenade attack.
Ravi was roped in by the other members of the terror module — who are currently on the radar of police officers investigating the case — ThePrint has learnt.
“The module is not limited to three individuals who carried out the attack… We could establish the involvement of several others, who received payments as part of the module and are going to trace them,” an investigator told ThePrint.
“Some of these KZF operatives were involved in drones and arms dropping along the border. This is an extremely sensitive matter. Multiple angles and cases related to the outfit are being investigated,” another source said.
Of all the payments channelled from overseas, one was a direct payment by the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) top operatives for the purchase of the mobile phone that the trio used to plan and execute the attack, another police officer said.
Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said the preliminary investigation revealed that Pakistan-based KZF chief Ranjeet Singh Nita controlled the module and Greece-based Jaswinder Singh Mannu, who hailed from Agwan village in Punjab’s Kalanaur, operated it.
He also said that Ravi, who comes from Mannu’s village, got instructions from “Jagjeet Singh in the British Army”, to use a fake identity, that of Fateh Singh Baghi, and claim responsibility for the grenade attack.
The ‘encounter’
The case registered on 19 December at Gurdaspur’s Kalanaur police station was the third involving Gurvinder Singh. Punjab Police has added sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the FIR, initially registered under sections 109 (attempt to murder) and 324 (4) (mischief) of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita and the Explosive Act, 1884.
The FIR, a copy of which ThePrint has seen, recorded that at 8 pm on 18 December, some unidentified men threw explosive materials at the Bakshiwala Police check post. With none immediately identified or named in the FIR, sources in Punjab Police claimed to have traced the suspects through human and technical intelligence inputs, such as receiving funds disproportionate to their wealth and income.
Border Range DIG Singh said that as soon as the officers investigating the matter received credible inputs about the presence of the three accused in the Puranpur area of Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit, a police team reached the district and informed local police.
Sources in Uttar Pradesh Police said that they received information about the presence of the suspects around 4 am Monday, following which a joint team was constituted to scan the area. The ‘encounter’ lasted nearly an hour and left all three suspects injured. They later succumbed to injury, police officers aware of the matter said.
“The Punjab police teams had reached here, and the planning was meticulous. The idea was to surround them and arrest them. Everything was in place, from personnel to ambulances. The firing did not last for long. Forensics teams will examine the spot,” a source said.
Sources said that a total of 17 police personnel, including officers from both UP and Punjab conducted the operation, which started at 4.30 am and ended at 5.30 am.
“They used sophisticated weapons and fired using AK 47. They also had concealed weapons on them,” another source said.
Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police Harish Dayama said further investigations are ongoing and would expose all connections and members of the terror module, with more arrests and recoveries likely in the coming days.
“The three men are involved in drones and arms dropping cases along the border. Multiple angles and cases related to the outfit are being investigated,” a source said.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)