1 arrested in Amritsar grenade attack, Pak ISI attempts to disturb peace: Punjab CM

Chandigarh: In a major breakthrough, Punjab Police has traced the grenade attack on Nirankari Satsang Bhawan in Amritsar to ISI-backed Khalistani forces in Pakistan, by arresting one of the two perpetrators of the attack in less than 72 hours after three persons were killed and 15 injured in the terror act.

Announcing this here on Wednesday, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh disclosed that the suspect, Bikramjit Singh alias Bikram (26) was arrested from near Loharka village.

Bikram, an operative of Khalistan Liberation Force, has given information indicating that the grenade was provided to the assailants by one Happy in Pakistan.

Happy is suspected to be the Pak-based KLF chief Harmeet Singh Happy alias PhD, who had earlier masterminded the conspiracy to carry out the targeted killings of RSS, Shiv Sena and DSS leaders and a Christian Pastor in Ludhiana and Jalandhar in 2016-2017, in collaboration with Pakistani establishment.

The Chief Minister categorically ruled out any religious motivation behind the attack and described Sunday's attack on Nirankari Bhawan as yet another attempt by Pak ISI and Pak establishment to carry out terrorist actions in Punjab to disturb the peace in the State. It was in ISI's interest to keep the border disturbed to ensure internal peace in Pakistan, said Capt Amarinder Singh.

Attempts by Pak ISI and Pak establishment to forge linkages between Punjabi and Kashmiri terrorist groups  is a matter of serious security concern for Punjab, said the Chief Minister, adding that the State police was working closely with central agencies to check the spread of such forces. His government was committed to ensuring that nobody was allowed to disturb the state's hard-earned peace and harmony, he asserted.

The Chief Minister pointed out that there had been only two terror attacks in the State in 2018, including the Maqsudan PS attack and Sunday's incident, and both had been successfully solved by the police, who had also cracked all the cases of targeted killings. The sacrilege cases that had taken place in the last 18 months had also been solved.

Giving details, the Chief Minister said that preliminary investigations and CCTV footage of the incident had led to the arrest of Bikram, who has identified his accomplice as Avtar Singh Khalsa (32 years) s/o Gurdial Singh, r/o village Chak Mishri Khan, Lopoke (Ajnala), Amritsar.

Giving further details, Punjab DGP Suresh Arora said Bikram was riding a motorbike (TVS PB-18 M- 7032) at the time of his arrest. Bikram's black Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle (PB-02-BF9488), which he has used in the attack, has also been recovered.