Punjab Police arrest Germany-based terror operative in Delhi airport

A team of Punjab Police has busted a terrorist recruitment, funding, and aiding module with the arrest of Germany-based operative Prabhpreet Singh Sidhu from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said here on Friday.

An input was received in 2020 at State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) Amritsar that Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terrorist Jagdish Singh Bhura was planning to hit some high-profile targets in Punjab and to accomplish this task, he had provided weapons and financial support to his India-based associates.

Punjab Police took swift action and busted the module by arresting four operatives of this organisation and recovering arms and ammunition from their possession. In this regard, a case dated December 19, 2020, was registered under Sections 13, 17, 18, 18-B and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Section 25 of the Arms Act in Amritsar.

DGP Yadav said during the investigation, the arrested accused persons had disclosed that they were working on the directions of wanted terrorist Jagdish Singh Bhura and his close aide, Prabhpreet Singh.

The arrested persons had also revealed that they were planning to hit high-profile targets.

He said that since Prabhpreet was living in Germany, Punjab Police, after naming him in this case, issued a Lookout Circular against him through the Bureau of Immigration, Delhi.

“On Wednesday, immigration authorities at the IGI Airport Delhi informed us about the detention of Prabhpreet Singh. Subsequently, a team of SSOC Amritsar rushed to Delhi and arrested the accused,” said the DGP.

Sharing more details, AIG SSOC Amritsar Sukhminder Singh Mann said preliminary investigations have revealed that accused Prabhpreet went to Poland on a valid visa in 2017, and crossed to Germany by road in 2020.

To attain permanent residence in Germany, he applied for political asylum, he added.

While living in Germany, the accused came in touch with Belgium-based KZF terrorist Jagdish Singh Bhura and got involved in anti-national activities, he said, adding the accused arranged funding and weapons to his Indian associates to carry out targeted killings and other disruptive activities.

He said further investigations are being conducted to unearth the whole network of Prabhpreet and the module he is working for.

Meanwhile, police teams have procured a remand of accused Prabhpreet till April 15 after presenting him in a court.