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KLF kidnapping ring busted

A terrorist ring connected to the Khalistan Liberation Force, which was behind the kidnapping of the teenaged son of an affluent Punjab resident early this month, was busted on Thursday.

The three men arrested by the Jalandhar police are members of a KLF affiliate which was involved in the abduction of Romanian diplomat Liviu Radu, industrialists Rahul Khaitan of the Khaitan Group and Mukesh Jain, and Rajinder Mirdha, son of late Congress politician Ram Niwas Mirdha -- all in Delhi.

"With the arrest of the three members of the KLF's operational group, we have worked out yet another kidnapping -- that of Deepak Monga from Bhatinda on August 5," Senior Superintendent of Police Gaurav Yadav said.

Monga was abducted at gunpoint by Jagtar Singh Raju, Ram Singh Ramu and Jasbir Singh Jassa when he was driving home from Bhatinda to Kotkapura town, where his father Desa Singh Monga owns a petrol pump.

Later, when they were caught, the car in which the terrorists were transporting a cache of arms from Jammu to Punjab turned out to be Deepak Monga's. A mobile phone recovered from the accused also belonged to him, the SSP revealed.

Monga had been released after a week in captivity at various locations in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

SSP Yadav said yet another person, code-named Shekhar, has turned out to be the fulcrum between the foreign-based controllers and the Punjab operational group, which is, in all probability, based in Ludhiana.

He said police have established the identity of four more members of the operation group.

Observing that there seems to be a multi-layered effort by residual groups of Punjab terrorists to revive terrorism, he said one layer comprises foreign-based controllers who give funds and guidelines to set up terrorist infrastructure and select targets.

The second layer of Pakistan-based terrorists operates with the help of the Inter-Services Intelligence which provides weapons and explosives that are then smuggled across the border.

The third layer comprises an operational group of terrorists, men who are out on bail for serious crimes or new recruits motivated by money or the chance to go abroad after executing tasks like attacking VIPs, vital installations and public places.

Yadav said investigations have revealed strong links between the Punjab terrorists and the mafia groups of Uttar Pradesh.

A well-organised racket in fabricating documents for stolen vehicles is operating in western Uttar Pradesh. The SSP said the involvement of some travel agents, who helped arrange forged passports and other travel documents for the Punjab terrorists, also came to light during the investigation.

"We are working out a strategy to counter the sinister designs of terrorists by sharing information with other security and intelligence agencies," he added.

UNI

ALSO SEE:
Two ISI-backed terrorists shot dead in western UP

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