Punjab Police found the role of two juveniles in the recent rocket-propelled grenade attack at Tarn Taran police station.
NEW DELHI: In the recent past, there have been many incidents in Punjab where teenagers in the age group 14-19 have been misguided, and lured towards terrorism. This is a dangerous trend that every politician should be concerned about cutting across party lines. Parents are worried as it is disturbing the very social fabric of Punjab. In the recent rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack at Tarn Taran police station, Punjab Police found the involvement of two juveniles in hatching the conspiracy.
Punjab Police claimed to have solved the Tarn Taran RPG attack case in less than a week with the busting of a foreign-controlled terrorist module leading to the arrest of six persons, including two juveniles in conflict with the law, who carried out the terror attack at Police Station Sarhali building in Tarn Taran at about 11.18 pm on 9 December.
Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav said that the terror attack was the masterminded of foreign-based wanted terrorists Lakhbir Singh, alias Landa Harike, Satbir Singh, alias Satta, and Gurdev, alias Jaisel, with the help of Ajmeet Singh, currently lodged at Goindwal Sahib Jail.
Apart from the arrest of two juveniles in conflict with the law, the remaining four module members arrested have been identified as Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Numberdar (18) of Naushera Pannua; Gurlal Singh alias Gahla (19) of Chohla Sahib; Surlalpal Singh alias Gurlal alias Lali (21) of village Thathiya Mahanta; and Jobanpreet Singh alias Joban (18) of Naushra Pannua. Pertinently, Gopi Numberdar, who was on bail as he was arrested as a juvenile, turned 18 years old a day after his release on 22 November this year, and immediately got in touch with the foreign-based handlers. The foreign-based handlers used cut-outs and Dead Letter Box (DLB) techniques for retrieval of consignment and establishing contact so that the module members were assigned tasks directly by the handlers and were aware of only their roles. Even the identities of sub-modules remained hidden from other sub-modules.
In the Mohali RPG attack case, there was a juvenile involved in carrying out the attack. On 10 November, Dera follower Pradeep Singh’s killing unmasked terrorist organizations’ strategy to enrol teenagers to indulge in crime. As per official reports, two out of three persons arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Friday, turned out to be 14-year-old boys from Haryana. This has come to light in the killing of Pradeep Singh, an accused in a sacrilege incident and a follower of the controversial Dera Sacha Sauda, Sirsa.
“This is shocking for us. Youngsters shall be inclined towards sports, and positive activities, but such trends are disturbing,” said DGP Punjab IPS Gaurav Yadav. “There are more than 15 teenagers below the age of 20 who have recently been arrested in different cases. These boys seem to be earning some easy money, and are just trigger-happy juveniles and have no iota of idea what they have done, and also there was no motive behind the killing,” said Sukhchain Singh Gill, Inspector General Police, Punjab.
In Dera follower Pradeep Singh’s murder case, one of the juveniles was also involved in a recent murder. After interrogating them, they said that there is no big deal in using a handgun. “You just have to press the trigger”.
The police believe the two belonged to a module of another teenage shooter 19-year-old Ankit Sersa who, along with five others, had gunned down singer Sidhu Moosewala earlier this year. These two juveniles are fan followers of Ankit Sersa and said that Ankit Sersa influenced them.
Asked about the teenagers’ involvement in the killing, BJP Punjab chief and MLA Ashwani Sharma said, “This is a clear case of the ruling government’s failure. Law and order have completely collapsed in Punjab. Every day, there is news of targeted killing, RPG attacks, and Khalistani attacks. Gurpatwant Singh Pannu openly said in a video that the ruling government has taken money from him to contest elections in Punjab. How can someone expect them to control the law and order situation?”
Criminal psychologist Dr Rahul Upadhaya, a private practitioner from Mohali, said: “The reported arrest of some minors in recent cases shows a new twist to the strategy of terrorists and gangsters. Now, they are employing minors for murders etc. Maybe in times to come, they may start using minors in their other serious nefarious activities. It may be only because minors are generally protected under Juvenile Delinquency Provisions, entailing special protection. It is about time to amend the Act.”