CHANDIGARH: Thwarting possible efforts of foreign-based anti-national elements to disturb the peace and tranquillity of the state, the Intelligence Wing of the Punjab Police on Monday has arrested two close aides of Fugitive Gangster-turned-Terrorist Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dalla.
Those arrested have been identified as Harsh Kumar and his aide Raghav, both residents of Kot Ise Khan in District Moga. The Police have also recovered a foreign-made MP-5 gun along with 44 live rounds from their possession.
Divulging details, DGP Punjab VK Bhawra said that in an intelligence led operation, a team of State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Amritsar has managed to arrest both the accused persons.
He said that during preliminary investigations, Harsh revealed that he came into contact with Arsh Dalla via Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi of village Shadiwala in Moga, who was arrested by Moga Police in January 2022 with a consignment of grenades and arms.
After the arrest of Gopi, Arsh Dalla established contact with Harsh Kumar through encrypted apps and motivated him to work for him, said the DGP, while adding that Arsh Dalla had also sent funds to Harsh Kumar on at least two occasions. The present consignment has also been arranged by Arsh Dalla, he said.
AIG SSOC Amritsar Sukhminder Mann said that further investigations are being conducted to ascertain the channel through which the accused persons received the weapon and the purpose for which it was delivered to them.
Meanwhile, an FIR in this regard has been registered under relevant sections at State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar and both the accused persons will be produced in the court for Police remand. Arsh Dalla has also been nominated in this case.
BOX: WHO IS ARSH DALLA?
A native of Moga and now based in Canada, Arsh Dalla is a very active gangster-turned-terrorist and has been involved in numerous gangster and terror-related activities in the recent past. Punjab Police had already busted several modules backed by Arsh Dalla with the arrest of his close aides and recovering IEDs, Hand-grenades and other arms and ammunition. Strenuous efforts are being made by the Punjab Police at the appropriate levels to bring him to book.