'Terror funding accused was to buy grenade from Uttar Pradesh man'

MOHALI: Punjab Police’s state special operation cell (SSOC) here on Wednesday, while demanding three days of extended police custody of a man arrested under charges of terror funding, informed the court that the accused confessed to planning to purchase a grenade from a man in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh.

The SSOC also alleged that the accused, Lakhbir Singh, was raising a militia through a group on social media. Though it said Lakhbir had named the group Sikh Regiment, it did not mention the social media platform. SSOC said the group had members from various countries like Pakistan, Punjab in India, Germany, Canada and many other countries.

Lakhbir and his accomplice, Surendra Kaur, have been in police custody since November 6, after they were arrested by SSOC. The cell, while giving the reason for its extended demand, said a man named Raj Singh, a resident of Shamli district in Uttar Pradesh, was to supply the grenade to Lakhbir and it had also come to know of some more people, named Balbir Singh, Inderjeet Singh and Baljeet Singh, who have been members of the group on social media.

SSOC said its was ascertaining the identities of the new people and their involvement in the terror-funding module.

The agency said it had traced money transactions, twice each of Rs 50,000 and Rs 7,000, from Lakhbir’s account and seized a pistol on his disclosure.

Refuting all allegations, defence lawyers C S Bawa and Kulwinder Kaur said the SSOC, during the eight-day police remand of the accused, had not been able to make any concrete recoveries and the money transactions were only a claim only of the agenc,y as the accused had not given any such statement.

After listening to the arguments, the court extended the police remand of Lakhbir by a day and remanded Surendra in 14 days of judicial custody.

The court pulled up the agency for failing to produce the investigating officer of the case and directed the SSOC to ensure the investigating officer was present in court during the next hearing.

Lakhbir was arrested from Chandigarh International Airport in Mohali on November 6. On the basis of his disclosure, it arrested Surendra from Ludhiana. Lakhbir was arrested when he was returning from Dubai after there as a driver for a year. Surendra had been working as a staff nurse in a hospital in Ludhiana.