Nine kg RDX recovered from KCF men

According to police, following a tip off, a DSP put up a nakanear Nanakpur village on Kapurthala-Fattudhinga road and stopped a white Maruti car (registration number PB-02A-7085) coming from the Fattudhinga side. As the car stopped, the police overpowered four occupants while one managed to escape under the cover of darkness. The terrorist who managed to escape has been identified as Jassa.

The IG said four detonators, three time pencils, three ABCD timers, three 9-volt batteries, two .30 bore pistols (of Chinese make), two magazines and 11 cartridges were seized from their possession.

During interrogations, the terrorists disclosed that they were the members of KCF (Panjwar) group. One of the arrested terrorists, Sukhdev Singh, a kingpin in this case, is the brother of notorious international smuggler Pargat Singh, a close associate of Paramjit Singh Panjwar. Sukhdev Singh is facing trial in a series of bomb blasts in Amritsar after his arrest in August 1999.

Sukhdev Singh, after his release on a bail, re-established links with Paramjit Singh Panjwar and other associates living abroad to revive the terrorists activities in Punjab.

The police officials said the recovered RDX was sent to Paramjit Singh Panjwar from across the border, somewhere in Punjab sector, to disrupt the peace in the state.

When asked about the specific target of terrorists, the IG said the interrogation was going on. However, he added, these terrorists were to get further instructions regarding their target from the Panjwar.

Aujla said the RDX seized was enough to blow up three compartments of a train or to destroy any building.