Punjab Police busts Babbar Khalsa International-linked terror and extortion module

A terror and extortion module, associated with banned Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) operative Jeevan Fauji and being carried out in Canada, was dismantled by Punjab Police, according to Punjab Police DGP Gaurav Yadav.

Two key associates of Fauji - Karajpreet Singh from Verowal and Gurlal Singh alias Harman from Goindwal Sahib - have been arrested, police said on Sunday.

Fauji was targeting individuals in Punjab's border areas and had supplied a .30 bore pistol to the arrested duo, instructing them to fire at a furniture shop in Amritsar as part of the extortion bid, police said. The ransom demand was directed at a relative of the shop owner based in Canada.


Following Gurlal Singh's disclosure, a police team accompanied him to recover the weapon used in the alleged crime. Police said during the operation, Singh "attempted to fire at the police party", which led to "self-defensive retaliation". Singh sustained a bullet injury to his left leg and was shifted to the Civil Hospital in Amritsar for treatment.

An FIR has been registered and further investigation is underway to completely dismantle the terror network, police said.

Int'l network dismantled
In another operation, Punjab Police dismantled a transnational criminal network and recovered eight foreign-made sophisticated pistols during a checkpoint operation conducted on the link road between Village Brar and Kohala.

During the operation, three persons riding on a motorcycle were intercepted under suspicious circumstances. Upon thorough verification and search, the accused were apprehended, DGP Yadav said in a post on X. Police said preliminary investigation reveals that the arrested persons were in direct contact with the primary suspect, identified as Dugh, a resident of Manawala.

(With Agency Inputs)