Two juveniles fired RPG at Punjab Police station, took lessons from YouTube

“The foreign-based handlers used cut-out and dead letter box (DLB) techniques for retrieval of consignment and establishing contact so that the module members could be assigned tasks directly and were aware of only their role. Even the identities of sub-modules remained hidden from other sub-modules,” said the DGP.

A senior police official explained that in cut-out and dead letter box techniques, a person drops a consignment or information at a pre-determined location and another picks it without making any contact while being managed by a handler, who in in this case was foreign-based.

Yadav said Landa got the attack executed through two Europe-based handlers — Satbir Singh Satta and Gurdev Singh Jaisel — on the directions of the “intelligence agency of the neighbouring country”. They took the help of Ajmeet Singh, who is currently lodged in Punjab’s Goindwal Sahib jail, the DGP said.

Yadav identified the accused as Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Numberdar (18) and Jobanpreet Singh alias Joban (18) of Naushera Pannuan; Gurlal Singh Gahla (19) of Chohla Sahib; and Gurlal Singh alias Lali (21) village Thathiya Mahanta; and two juveniles, he said.

Police also recovered three pistols — two .32 bore and one .30 bore — along with ammunition, a hand grenade P-86 and a motorcycle used in the crime from the possession of the arrested people, he said.

The RPG was fired at the Sarhali police station in Tarn Taran on December 9, the second such attack in the state in the last seven months. The projectile had hit a Sanjh Kendra adjoining the police station. There was no casualty in the incident.

A Soviet-era-made single-use 70 mm calibre RPG-26, favoured by Mujahideen in Afghanistan, was used in the attack and was sourced from across the border, he said. The RPG was recovered on December 10.

The Tarn Taran police, in coordination with the Counter Intelligence Wing of the Punjab Police, conducted meticulous investigations based on technical and intelligence inputs, the DGP said.

The investigations, led by Tarn Taran SSP Gurmeet Chauhan revealed that the attack was the handiwork of Numberdar and Gurlal Gahla, who were directly in touch with Landa and Satta, DGP said.

Numberdar and Gahla were apprehended from Patti Morh Sarhali on Thursday and a .32 pistol along with 15 live cartridges was recovered from their possession, he said. Police also recovered a hand grenade on the disclosure of Numberdar, he said.

Investigations revealed that Numberdar received funding of Rs 8.5 lakh and one .30 bore pistol along with 200 live cartridges from Landa and Satta, the DGP said.

On December 1, Gopi along with Gahla and Jobanpreet Joban retrieved consignment containing RPG from village Jhander in Tarn Taran and dumped it at a spot near village Marhana in Tarn Taran, he said.

The duo revealed that the two juveniles were tasked by Landa and Satta to execute the attack at the police station Sarhali, which was aimed at creating terror in the border state, the DGP said.

Another accused Gurlal Lali had provided logistic support and also handed over Rs 1 lakh to both the juveniles, who were camping at village Marhana a couple of hours before the attack, he said.

Yadav said police arrested Joban and Lali from near Naushehra Pannuan and recovered one .30 bore pistol along with 35 live cartridges and a motorcycle used in the crime from his possession.

The juvenile attackers were apprehended from a tubewell at Chamba village and police recovered one .32 bore pistol along with 15 live cartridges from their possession, the DGP said, adding that after the attack, they both fled to village Saido and took shelter in a tubewell room arranged by Landa.