SRINAGAR: Delhi Police has stated that it arrested five suspected members of a banned Sikh militant group after an encounter in Shakarpur area. Three of them are Kashmiris and two belong to Punjab.
As per the initial investigation, police have said that two Punjab residents are suspected members of Babbar Khalsa International while three people from Kashmir were working as middlemen.
“They were working on the directions of Khalistan movement leaders sponsored by Pakistan’s ISI,” an officer said,” The Indian Express reported. “The two accused from Punjab are associates of dreaded gangster Sukhmeet Singh, alias Sukh Bhikhariwal and were allegedly involved in the killing of Shaurya Chakra awardee, ‘Comrade’ Balwinder Singh, 62, a former CPI(M) member, who had taken on militants at the height of the insurgency in Punjab in the 1990s.”
Singh was gunned down at his home in Tarn Taran’s Bhikhiwind by two unidentified bikers on October 16.
Police have said that the two men were planning targeted killings in various north Indian states. From them, they have claimed they recovered weapons, drugs, and other incriminating materials.
The identity of the three Kashmiri “middlemen” has not been revealed so far.
A team of New Delhi Range was tracking the movement of the five men for the last two-three months and they came to know on Sunday evening that they would be coming to Delhi. Quoting the Police official, The Indian Express reported, “Acting on this information, a trap was laid and they were arrested after 13 rounds of firing. The firing took place at around 7 am. They were later taken to Lodhi Colony for further questioning.”
As the investigations are underway, quoting DCP (Special Cell) Pramod Singh Kushwah, The Indian Express reported that “we have made their arrest in Trans Yamuna with arms, drugs, and vehicle used for transportation.”
