Moga firing on migrants: Chinese hand grenades recovered, UAPA invoked; 3 more held

Two Bihar natives—Ashok and Subodh—were injured in the firing. The accused also filmed the incident and uploaded it on Instagram. The post also had inflammatory language against migrants and warned of more such incidents if “UP/Bihar people did not leave Punjab”.

IG (Faridkot range) Nilambari Jagdale, in a statement, said that three more accused, including two from Jammu and Kashmir, have been arrested in the case. Calling it “an act to spread terror and fear among migrants in Punjab”, she said that the UAPA sections have been added to the FIR registered at Sadar Moga police station.

The three more accused arrested in the case were identified as Shahvir Singh of Bhangali Khurd, Ferozepur, and Aman Sharma and Shubham Sharma- both natives of Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, the police had arrested two main shooters: Akashdeep Singh and Jobanpreet Singh, both of Ferozepur, after an encounter on February 15.

“The crime was executed by Akashdeep and Jobanpreet, who opened fire, and Shahvir, who was filming it on his phone. After the incident on February 10, Shahvir fled and was arrested by Haryana Police in another extortion case some days later. We brought him on a production warrant for questioning and arrested him on February 23 in the firing case,” said Moga SP (investigation) Bal Krishan Singla.

‘Acting on directions of foreign handlers’

“These youths were acting on the directions of some foreign handler to create disharmony in Punjab,” added SP Singla.

Jagdale said that the entire conspiracy was “woven to create terror in Punjab” and “spread fear among migrant labourers” who work in Punjab. The total arrests in the case have now reached 13, including some family members of the main accused for “providing shelter”.

Earlier, two other accused – Lakhwinder Singh and Sukhvir Singh- were also arrested for allegedly providing shelter and other logistical support to the main shooters.

Meanwhile, during his interrogation, Lakhwinder revealed that one of the main conspirators in the crime was Shubhneet Singh of Mishri Wala, Ferozepur, but “he was not present physically during the incident and was coordinating on the phone”. Shubhneet was nominated as an accused and arrested on February 15.

During the probe, it further came to light that on February 9, hours before the incident, two men- Shubham Sharma and Aman Sharma- both from Jammu and Kashmir, had come to Ferozepur to meet Jobanpreet and Shahvir at their village Bhangali, and “provided them weapons to execute the firing”. Both were nominated and arrested on February 19.

During the interrogation of Shahvir, who was brought to the police on a production warrant from Yamunanagar jail, authorities recovered two Chinese hand grenades marked “Arges 84”. Shahvir informed the police that these hand grenades, along with weapons and other ammunition, were supplied by individuals from Jammu and Kashmir just one day before the firing incident, according to a statement from the Moga police.

The police have added sections 4,5 and 6 of the Explosive Substances Act and 10, 13 and 18 of the UAPA to the FIR registered earlier for attempt to murder at the Moga Sadar police station.