Police personnel and three others stand near the body of one of the terror suspects, who were allegedly involved in a grenade attack in Gurdaspur, killed in an encounter with a joint team of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab police, at a hospital in Pilibhit. | Photo credit: PTI
The three suspected Khalistani militants killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit hailed from poor families, making it difficult for their relatives to believe that they could be involved in anti-national activities.
On Monday (December 23), three people were killed in a clash with the police in Pilivit, accused of being involved in a recent grenade attack on a police station in Gurdaspur.
The three suspected members of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) were Varinder Singh alias Ravi (23) of Agwan in Kalnaur, Gurwinder Singh (25) of Bhaini Bania Mohalla in Kalnaur and Jashanpreet Singh alias Pratap Singh (18) of Shur Khurd. in Kalanaur.
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The families of the two suspects claim they have no idea how they landed in Uttar Pradesh.
Gurwinder’s family said he had left home for Batala in Punjab last week. Her family told reporters at their home that her phone was later found switched off.
“We cannot believe that he would even think of doing such a thing,” his father Gurdev Singh, a laborer, told reporters.
He said that a young man drowned in the canal and his son filed a case with the police. However, he has claimed that he implicated his son in the incident.
Gurvinder’s mother, Sarabjit Kaur, had said that she would return soon when she went to Batala from home to drop off relatives. “He was our only son… we don’t know how he reached UP. Now we have lost everything,” she said.
Jashanpreet Singh also belonged to a poor family. His mother Paramjit Kaur claimed that he had never done anything illegal in his life. “We don’t know what happened and how he got there (UP),” she said.
She said her son left home a week ago and told us he wants to drive a commercial vehicle and support his family. It was found locked in Varinder’s house in Agawan. Some locals claimed that he worked as a truck driver.
In a major breakthrough against Pakistan’s ISI-sponsored KZF terror module, a joint operation by Punjab Police and Uttar Pradesh Police led to an encounter with three module members involved in the grenade attack.
According to a Punjab Police statement, preliminary investigations have revealed that the terror module is run by Pakistan-based Ranjit Singh Neeta, head of the KZF, and Greece-based Jaswinder Singh Mannu, a native of Agwan village in Kalanaur.
Accused Varinder alias Ravi, who was heading the module, was being further controlled and masterminded by UK-based Jagjit Singh and was using the assumed identity of Fateh Singh Bagi to claim responsibility for the grenade attack, the statement said.
published – Dec 24, 2024 05:20 IST