Militancy Links, Smuggling & Mohali Blast History: 'Masterminds' Behind Tarn Taran Attack | EXPLAINED

Top intelligence sources had earlier told CNN-News18 that the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack on a police station in Punjab?s border district of Tarn Taran on Saturday was possibly carried out by ?most wanted? terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda and locally executed by gangsters Lakhbir Singh Landa and Satbir Singh Satta.

According to intelligence sources, this reveals the Rinda-Landa nexus, as Satta and Landa carried out the blast on Rinda?s behalf, who was named as the mastermind behind the Mohali RPG attack in May. According to sources, all three are from nearby villages in the Tarn Taran district.

Later, intelligence sources confirmed to CNN-News18 that several Punjab jail inmates admitted to speaking with gangster Satveer Satta on Saturday, when a police station in the state?s border district of Tarn Taran was attacked with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).

Sources said Punjab police questioned an accused in Goindwal jail who confirmed that he received a call from Satveer Satta before and after the RPG attack, and the gangster appeared happy after the blast. According to Punjab police, this accused also confirmed to them that the consignment for the attack was the same one that arrived for Rinda.

But who are these gangsters and what is the story behind the RPG attack in Punjab? News18 explains:

Lakhbir Singh Landa

For the past 11 years, Landa, a resident of Harike Pattan village in Tarn Taran district, has been a source of consternation for Punjab police. Landa, a close associate of Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist Harvinder Singh, alias Rinda, fled to Canada in 2017 and joined the pro-Khalaistan terror organisation Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a report by Hindustan Times states.

In July 2011, Landa was charged with murder and violating the Arms Act in Harike Pattan. He is now facing 18 criminal cases in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Moga, and Ferozepur districts, including murder, attempted murder, and drug smuggling. Before fleeing to Canada, Punjab Police had filed a kidnapping case against Landa in Moga in May 2016.

Landa was also a key conspirator in the RPG attack on the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in Mohali, as well as the planting of an improvised explosive device (IED) under a sub-car inspector?s in Amritsar.

Satbir Singh Satta and Harwinder Singh Randa

Satta is said to be a part of the Harvinder Singh Rinda gang and is involved in cross-border smuggling of narcotics and weapons. He belongs to Nashehra area of ​​Tarn Taran.

He is currently believed to be in Europe, sources told CNN-News18.

Rinda was wanted by Khanna police for his alleged involvement in the August 2017 murder of Manminder Singh alias Mindhi, the sarpanch of Rasoolra village and the brother of slain gangster Rupinder Gandhi, another report by Hindustan Times revealed. Gurjot Garcha of Khanna, a member of the Ravi Khwajke gang, had posted a status on social networking site Facebook claiming that he and Rinda murdered Mindhi.

Rinda?s name resurfaced after Khanna police arrested national-level boxer and feared gangster Sukhwinder Singh alias Soni and three accomplices with illegal weapons.

During questioning, Soni revealed that Rinda had acted as a conduit between him and Jammu and Kashmir militant groups, assisting him in obtaining AK-47 assault rifles. He had not, however, revealed the reason for obtaining the rifles.

Rinda was also linked to Bupinder Singh Saini, one of four Punjab-based terror suspects apprehended with explosives in Karnal in May of this year, according to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Because of these ties to Rinda, an NIA team raided Bhupinder?s house in Bhattian Bet village, Salem Tabri, in June.

Currently, Rinda is believed to be in Pakistan.

The Mohali Blast

In May this year, a rocket-propelled grenade struck the Intelligence Wing headquarters of the Punjab Police in Mohali, shattering windowpanes on one of the building?s floors. No one was hurt in the explosion, which political parties described as ?disturbing? and ?shocking.?

The explosion occurred around 7.45 p.m. at the office in Mohali?s Sector 77. Because of the explosion, the windowpanes on one of the building?s floors were shattered.

?At around 7.45 p.m., an explosion was reported at the Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Sector 77, SAS Nagar. There has been no reported damage. Senior officers are on the scene, and an investigation is underway. Forensic teams have been summoned,? said Mohali police in a statement. The explosion occurred just days after the recovery of an explosive device near Chandigarh?s Burail Jail on April 24.

The Punjab Police had said that the Mohali blast was carried out by Khalistani operatives aided by Pakistan?s intelligence agency, ISI. The police said they had arrested six people in connection with the attack.

?Lakhbir Singh Landa was the main conspirator and organised all of the logistics. He was a gangster from Tarn Taran who moved to Canada in 2017 due to police pressure,? V K Bhawra, the DGP of Punjab, had stated at a press conference.

He is a close associate of Harvinder Singh Rinda, who we all know is close to the Pakistan ISI, according to the senior police officer ?They carried out the attack at the behest of the Pakistan ISI, Rinda and Landa, or Babbar Khalsa and gangsters,? Bhawra had said.

With inputs from Manoj Gupta

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