— POLICE TEAMS RECOVER TWO HAND GRENADES, TWO PISTOLS FROM ARRESTED PERSONS
— PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION FOUND THAT MODULE WAS PLANNING FURTHER ATTACKS ON POLICE ESTABLISHMENTS IN PUNJAB: DGP GAURAV YADAV
— BOTH ATTACKS WERE MASTERMINDED BY INMATE GURPREET SINGH ALIAS BABBU; CURRENTLY IS IN THE POLICE CUSTODY: AIG DR SIMRAT KAUR
CHANDIGARH/PATIALA, July 20:
In a major breakthrough amidst the ongoing drive to make Punjab a safe and secure state as per directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Police has busted a Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terror module— being operated by foreign-based handlers Maninder Billa and Manu Agwan— with the arrest of its three members involved in grenade attacks on police posts at Badshahpur in Patiala and Ajimgarh in Haryana, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Sunday.
The operation was jointly conducted by Counter Intelligence (CI) Patiala and State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), SAS Nagar.
Those arrested have been identified as Sandeep Singh alias Deepu, a resident of Badshahpur in Patiala, Harpreet Singh alias Jagga, a resident of Harchandpura in Patiala, Harmanpreet Singh alias Preet, a resident of Gurdialpura in Patiala.
The development came after grenade attacks were reported at Police Post Badshahpur in Patiala on April 1, 2025, and Police Post Ajimgarh in Haryana on April 6, 2025. Following the incidents, operatives of BKI—Happy Passia, Manu Agwan, and Gopi Nawasherian— had used social media platform to claim the responsibility for these terror acts.
“By successfully busting this module, Punjab Police has solved both incidents of grenade attacks on police establishments in the state,” said the DGP, while adding that both the handlers were working on the directions of terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda.
DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the module had received logistical and financial support. Preliminary investigation has also suggested that the module was actively planning further attacks on police establishments in Punjab, he said, while adding that further investigation is on to trace forward and backward linkages in this case.
Sharing more details, AIG CI Patiala Dr Simrat Kaur during the interrogation, arrested accused persons have confessed that attacks at both the police establishments were masterminded by their associate identified as Gurpreet Singh alias Babbu, who is lodged in Patiala Jail and currently is in the Police custody.
She said that probe has found that mastermind Gurpreet Singh alias Babbu had promised Sandeep Singh alias Deepu ₹3-4 lakh for participating in the Badshahpur attack, while, Harmanpreet Singh alias Preet was paid ₹10,000 for accompanying in the Ajimgarh attack.
The AIG said that further investigation is on and more arrests and recoveries are likely in coming days.
A case FIR No. 11 dated 19/7/2025 has been registered under sections sections 25 (1) (B) and 61 (2) of the Arms Act at Police Station SSOC SAS Nagar, while, sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Explosive Substances Act have been added later.
