Chandigarh: In another ‘terror attack’ in the past seven months, a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) exploded inside a police station complex in Sarhali village in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district late Friday night.
No loss of life, however, was reported in the attack, the Punjab police said.
According to the Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav, the RPG, a military-grade hardware, was launched from the Amritsar-Bathinda highway, which runs adjacent to the station complex.
The police station building, however, was not damaged as the grenade ricocheted from the outer grill gate and landed in the adjoining sanjh kendra damaging its glass doors and walls.
The sanjh kendra, a specialised centre to deal with public requests for various services from the police, was empty and locked at the time of the attack, police said. Over a dozen policemen were inside the police station at the time of the attack, they added.
A case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been registered, said Yadav who visited the spot Saturday.
‘Act of cross border terrorism’
Yadav added that the attack was a result of “cross-border terrorism”
“This is part of the aim of a neighbouring country to bleed India with a thousand cuts but we will not allow their plans to succeed. This attack is a result of the fact that they are rattled by our recent successes in nabbing miscreants, downing drones and recovering weapons,” Yadav said talking to media persons at the spot. “Both the launcher and the propeller have been recovered from the site,” he said.
He also said police forensic and technical teams, along with a squad of the army were on the job to gather more details.
Police sources also said that the attack is a bid by the “ISI to destabilise Punjab through a series of terror attacks.”
Sarhali, where the grenade was launched, is the native village of gangster turned terrorist Harvinder Singh alias Rinda who is suspected to have died in Pakistan in November.
Rinda was believed to be backed by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s intelligence agency, and spearheaded major crimes in Punjab through his network of gangsters belonging to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. His associates Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar and Lakhbir Singh alias Landa Harike, both believed to be based in Canada, are actively carrying out terror and gangster operations in Punjab.
Also Read: Khalistan on the Pacific: How the gangs of Punjab were born in Canada
Not the first terror attack
This is the second RPG attack on a police building in the state this year.
In May, an RPG was launched at the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in Mohali. The grenade landed on the third floor of the building but did not explode. Rinda was believed to have masterminded the attack.
In December last year, one person died and three others were injured in a bomb blast inside a washroom of the district and sessions court complex in Ludhiana. Rinda was suspected of planning the attack. The key conspirator behind the blast, Harpreet Singh alias Happy Malaysia, was arrested from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi by the NIA earlier this month.
In May 2021, the police thwarted a possible terror attack and recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) equipped with RDX, an explosive, packed in a black box from Naushehra Pannuan village in Tarn Taran district. Two persons were arrested in connection with the case.
In August this year, the Amritsar police discovered another IED stuck under the vehicle of a cop. The IED contained more than 2 kg of RDX.
Also Read: Key accused in Ludhiana court blast arrested, NIA says he smuggled IED device from Pakistan
Gang wars
Apart from terror operations, the Punjab police are also facing a huge challenge from increased gangster activities in the state.
The most high-profile case is that of Punjabi rapper and Congress leader Shubhdeep Singh alias Sidhu Moose Wala. He was killed in May this year. Goldy Brar claimed responsibility for Moose Wala’s murder and said he was a member of the ‘Lawrence Bishnoi gang’.
In the first week of November, a right-wing leader Sudhir Suri who was accompanied by at least a dozen men was killed in broad daylight in a busy market in Amritsar. The alleged killer, a cloth merchant, was arrested by the police at the scene.
A few days later, a police protectee Pardeep Singh, accused in the infamous 2015 Bargari sacrilege case, was shot dead outside his shop in Kotkapura. Goldy Brar has taken credit for the killing. Singh is the third suspect in the 2015 sacrilege case to be killed in the last six years
Wednesday night unidentified assailants shot dead another police protectee, a 39-year-old cloth trader Bhupinder Singh alias Timmy Chawla in a busy market in Nakodar. His police guard Mandeep Singh was also gunned down. The incident took place barely a kilometre away from the police station.
Chawla had approached the police last month complaining that he had received extortion calls from a gangster asking for Rs 30 lakh and was provided security by the police.
Chawla’s killing was reminiscent of October’s killing of a cloth merchant in Tarn Taran. He too was allegedly shot dead by gangsters after he refused to pay up after an extortion amount of Rs 20 lakh.
AAP govt attacked by opposition
Bhagwant Singh Mann-led Aam Aadmi Party government came under a severe attack from the opposition following Friday’s incident.
BJP leader Manjinder Sirsa tweeted that the CM ignored peace and security in Punjab due to election campaigns in other states.
Rocket-launcher-type weapon fired at police station in Sarhali, Tarn Taran which is a sensitive location at Amritsar-Bathinda Highway@AAPPunjab Govt is busy partying in Gujarat/Delhi as per Kejriwal’s diktat & @BhagwantMann Ji has ignored the peace & security of Border state! pic.twitter.com/A11MrCJKEp
— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) December 10, 2022
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal said that the attack is a direct result of AAP’s apathy in maintaining law and order.
This is 2nd time in 6 months police building attacked with rocket launcher in Punjab. It's direct result of AAP govt's apathy in maintaining law & order & allowing narco-terrorism to raise its head again. @BhagwantMann should realise gravity of situation & take concrete measures. pic.twitter.com/zuuEpHhwrD
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) December 10, 2022
Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, the president of the Congress in the state said these were ominous signals.
Ominous signals.
This is quite serious. Enemies of peace have the audacity to attack police stations. It does not portend well for Punjab. We have to fight against it together. Govt at the Centre and State have to take the lead. Can't take such threats lightly.#DardaPunjab pic.twitter.com/xazCGYw63s
— Amarinder Singh Raja Warring (@RajaBrar_INC) December 10, 2022
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said stringent action will be taken in Punjab. “Since AAP came to power, big gangsters have been nabbed in Punjab. People who were acting under the protection of old parties were caught. Strict action will be taken,” he told ANI.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)
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