A man wanted by Punjab Police in a hand grenade smuggling case has been arrested in North Gujarat’s Banaskantha district and handed over to the Amritsar Special Operations Cell, police said on Sunday.
The arrest was carried out by the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Banaskantha Special Operations Group (SOG) based on a request sent by the Punjab Police, officials said.
“The accused, Bikramjit Singh alias Vicky, son of Kashmir Singh, a resident of Nangal Bhanwal, Amritsar, Punjab, was wanted by the Punjab Police in a hand grenade smuggling case. He was working as a laborer in a dhaba (roadside restaurant) in Desa when he was arrested,” said a Gujarat Narcotics Control Department official.
Punjab Police shared intelligence with Gujarat Police regarding Bikramjit Singh. Based on the information, a team of Gujarat ATS and Banaskantha SOG tracked him down and took him to Ahmedabad for interrogation, the official added.
“During interrogation, it came to light that he was working with Shehzad Bhatti and Abid Jut to supply grenades and carry out attacks on security installations. While staying outside Punjab, he recruited people from the state into the organized crime network and was part of conspiracies to attack police stations and security units,” the official said.
He added that Shehzad Bhatti is a Pakistani gangster who works for the Pakistani Intelligence and is believed to be behind grenade attacks on security units, police stations and prominent figures in Punjab.
The case has been registered by SSOC Amritsar under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Act, Explosive Substances Act, 1908, and Arms Act, 1959.
