M A I N   N E W S

Three Punjab militants held
From Our Correspondent

NEW DELHI, Aug 24 — The Delhi Police claimed to have discovered a base of Khalistan Zindabad Force in Nepal with the arrest of three Punjab militants who were involved in several blast incidents in Delhi, Punjab and Jammu.

The arrested militants, Lakhbir Singh, alias Baba, Manpreet Kaur alias Maan Behanji, sister-in-law of KCF’s chief Ranjit Singh, alias Nita and Surjeet Singh of Hoshiarpur. A total of 32 kg RDX, arms and other explosives were seized from them, the Commissioner of Delhi Police, Mr Ajai Raj Sharma, said.

They were involved in several bomb blast incidents, including at Sirhind, Samba, explosions in Pooja Express and Sealdah Express trains and blast in a guest house at Paharganj in Delhi.

Lakhbir Singh was arrested from Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib when he was carrying a high grade explosive weighing 2.8 kg in a Chinese clay pot which was fitted with an ABCD timer device, a detonator and a 9-volt battery.

The police arrested Maan Behanji, who came to meet Lakhbir Singh at the gate of Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib.

The police seized two pencil timers and Rs 3,200 in fake Indian currency from her possession.

While addressing a press conference, the Commissioner said that a team of the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police was also sent to Jammu following their sustained interrogation. The team seized 4.20 kg RDX, two ABCD timers, five electric detonators which were kept by them at bank of the Tavi river.

The Commissioner said the Chief of KZF, who was in Lahore, had established a powerful base at Bir Ganj in Nepal. This base was used for terrorist activities in India. Maan Behanji and Lakhbir Singh were the main organisers of this base.

They were directed by the Chief of the KZF to explode bombs in Delhi, Punjab and Jammu on the eve on Independence Day. They came to India on August 5 for this purpose. They had to take the help of Amrit Pal Singh, alias Romi and Manjeet Singh of Jammu. Manjeet is suspected to be a Pakistan national and the prime suspect in the Paharganj blast.

Lakhbir Singh was earlier arrested in Bir Ganj in Nepal and 20 kg RDX was seized from his hide-out. However, he had managed to come out from jail after one year.

They used to contact the chief of the KZF in Pakistan through conferencing facilities in Germany, Canada and some other European countries. Besides explosives, the KZF chief used to sent fake currency to Lakhbir and Maan Behanji, the Commissioner said.