4 Punjab youths arrested in UP for ‘plotting’ to kill Armyman, ‘attack’ police station

The Uttar Pradesh Police's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Friday arrested three youths and detained a juvenile in Lucknow for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to kill a member of the Army or police force or attack a police establishment before recording a video of the incident, on the instructions of their Pakistan-based handler.

The motive of their handler, linked to the banned Shahzad Bhatti network, was to create fear among people, the agency claimed. The accused were identified as Gagandeep Singh (26) and Rajat Kumar (19) of Amritsar in Punjab and Krish (21), a resident of neighbouring Gurdaspur district, officials said.

The juvenile, also a Punjab resident, is aged 17, they said. A foreign-made pistol and 20 cartridges were recovered from their possession, it was claimed. In a press statement, the ATS claimed to have received intelligence inputs that some youths from Punjab with alleged links to the Shahzad Bhatti network were planning to kill an Armyman or a policeman or attack a police establishment in India.

A probe revealed that Gagandeep and his associates were in contact with Rana Bhai, an active member of the Shahzad Bhatti network, the agency said, adding the four were travelling to Lucknow on his instructions to carry out an attack.

They were also asked to record the killing and send the video to Rana Bhai, the investigators said. They also conducted reconnaissance of sensitive establishments, recorded their locations and shared the information with their handler, it was alleged.

A case was registered against them at the ATS police station in Lucknow. The accused set out from Punjab's Amritsar on October 27 and passed from Delhi before reaching Lucknow on Thursday (October 29) midnight, the ATS added.

They communicated with Rana Bhai through Instagram and WhatsApp, it was alleged. The officials said Rana transferred Rs 2,585 to them to cover their travel expenses and after reaching Lucknow, the accused recorded a video of the city railway station and sent it to their handler.

They were promised Rs 3 lakh after the targeted killing and were instructed to flee to Nepal to evade arrest, the officials stated. “During the interrogation, the accused said Rana Bhai had told them that weapons and ammunition had been sent from Pakistan and would be handed over to them by a local contact in Lucknow.

The contact person provided them with the firearm and cartridges seized from them,” a police officer said. The ATS said their mobile phones yielded suspicious chats and videos and that they were using WhatsApp accounts activated through virtual numbers to communicate with their foreign handlers.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Amitabh Yash said the ATS would seek police custody of the accused for further questioning and identify their other associates and the network supplying them weapons and financial help.