The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested three youths belonging to Punjab and taken a juvenile into custody for allegedly conspiring with a Pakistan-based handler of the banned Shahzad Bhatti Network (SBN) to carry out a targeted killing of a police or Army personnel in Lucknow, Additional director general of police (law and order) Amitabh Yash said on Friday. He said all four were apprehended in the state capital on Thursday.
During interrogation, the arrested persons confirmed that the weapons and ammunition had been supplied from Pakistan. Further investigation revealed that the suspects were travelling to Lucknow on Rana Bhai’s instructions. Preliminary interrogation indicated that the accused were acting on Rana Bhai’s instructions to target a police or Army personnel in Lucknow. The ATS is now trying to identify the local contact and establish the complete weapons supply chain. The ATS will seek their police custody remand to question them further about the network, its local associates and the financial transactions used to fund the operation. The identity of the juvenile has been withheld.
The arrested accused have been identified as Gagandeep Singh, 26, of Mehta Pind in Amritsar; Rajat Kumar, 19, of Himmatpura locality in Amritsar; and Krish, 21, a resident of Dera Baba area in Gurdaspur. The ATS has registered an FIR at its Lucknow police station under Sections 152 and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Section 3/25 of the Arms Act and Sections 18 and 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Yash said the mobile phones seized from the accused contained chats on social media accounts and messaging applications, which are being examined to establish their links with the Pakistani handler and other members of the network. He said the firearms and ammunition had been provided to the accused in Lucknow through a person linked to the network. The ADG said the accused had also planned to flee to Nepal after executing the assignment in Lucknow. Intelligence inputs indicated that youths from Punjab associated with the banned network were planning an attack on a police or military establishment in India, according to the ATS.
The agency is pursuing further investigation to identify other persons involved in the conspiracy, establish the role of local associates, trace the weapons supply network and examine the financial trail. Investigators are also examining whether the network had assigned similar tasks or conducted reconnaissance of other sensitive installations.
