International terrorist organisation Babbar Khalsa is behind Thursday’s Ludhiana court blast that killed one person and injured several others, top intelligence sources have told CNN-News18. The outfit’s chief Wadhawa Singh executed the attack with the help of local gangster Harvinder Singh (aka Rinda Singh), they added.
Babbar Khalsa’s stated main objective is to create an independent Sikh country ‘Khalistan’. It largely has a presence in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and some parts of India.
According to the sources, Rinda fled to Pakistan a few years ago. He allegedly activated some gangsters in Punjab to carry out the blast.
Punjab police and central agencies are probing multiple dimensions of the attack, said the sources. They are also looking at an intelligence input saying a Lahore-based Khalistan outfit masterminded the blast with the help of some local gangsters in Ludhiana.
Agencies are also probing the possible role of political outfits trying to unsettle things in the poll-bound state, but the terror angle remains the prime focus, said sources.
Central agencies have been sending alerts to the Punjab government on a daily basis, sources said, adding that recently intel was sent on possible interference by radicalised groups before the assembly elections to be held early next year.
In the recent past, some local gangsters from Punjab have been getting involved in terror activities, they added.
The Centre’s recent move to increase the jurisdiction for BSF is also because the security agencies have to be extra vigilant as Punjab shares a border with Pakistan, the sources said.
The union home ministry had issued a notification extending the Border Security Force’s jurisdiction on October 11. In Punjab, West Bengal and Assam, the BSF can operate within a larger 50-km stretch as opposed to 15 km earlier. West Bengal and Punjab, ruled by BJP rivals TMC and Congress respectively, have opposed the step, terming it an infringement of federal rights of the states.
According to sources, the initial investigation and intensity of the blast suggest the use of RDX. They added that a court being targeted is another reason to suspect that it was a terror attack.
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