The Punjab police on Friday claimed to have busted an ISI-backed terror module jointly handled by Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa and Pakistan-based gangster Harvinder Singh Rinda with the arrest of two of its operatives.
'The PM of India was 20 km away from the Pakistan border and he is one of the persons under extreme threat from that country and they put his life in danger.'
Congress MLA Mamman Khan has been arrested in connection with the July 31 Nuh violence case, police said on Friday.
The curbs to be remained in Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Moga, Sangrur and Amritsar's Ajnala sub-division and a few areas in Mohali till Thursday noon.
The committee comprises Justice (Retd) Mehtab Singh Gill; principal secretary, home affairs; and Justice, Anurag Verma.
The members of the farmers' unions while on their way to the protest site removed barricades put up by police and forcibly entered the road leading to the 'dharna'.
Punjab Bharatiya Janata Party leaders met the governor in Chandigarh on Thursday, demanding the dismissal of the state's home minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and the police chief over the security breach during the prime minister's visit to Punjab.
Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "troubled" with only 15 minutes of wait whereas farmers protested against the farm laws for a year.
Foiling a major terror plot, four suspected Pakistan-linked terrorists on their way to Telangana to deliver explosives were nabbed in Haryana's Karnal on Thursday and arms, ammunition and IEDs were recovered from their vehicle, senior police officials said.
The National Commission concluded that the claim had been rightly rejected on grounds of misrepresentation in the proposal form and breach of duty to maintain utmost good faith while applying for insurance coverage.
Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma said a large number of buses and other vehicles carrying BJP workers and other people were prevented from reaching the rally site.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit was cut short on Wednesday after a "major security lapse" as he was stranded on a flyover for 20 minutes due to a blockade by protesters, prompting the Union Home Ministry to seek an immediate report from the state government and strict action against those responsible.
The action being contemplated is based on the findings submitted by a Supreme Court-appointed committee which probed the security breach during Modi's visit.
Congress MLA Mamman Khan has been named an accused in an FIR lodged after the August 31 Nuh violence, the Haryana government told the high court on Thursday, also claiming that the police have the phone call records and other evidence to back the move.
"We had asked them (PMO) to discontinue the visit due to bad weather conditions and protests. We had no information of his (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) sudden route change. There was no security lapse during the PM visit," Channi said at a press conference.
Union minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is gathering information on the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab and "big and tough decisions" will be taken.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea on the recent breach in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's security in Punjab.
Officials said security personnel, including those from paramilitary forces, have been deployed to keep a strict vigil. Security at inter-state and inter-district borders has also been tightened, they said.
The Charanjit Singh Channi-led government selected the 1987 batch IPS officer out of a panel of three officers shortlisted by the Union Public Service Commission.
Paramilitary forces were on Tuesday deployed in four districts of Punjab as a precautionary measure even as another incident of "sacrilege" of a holy book took place at a village in Bathinda.
He also told reporters outside the state assembly complex here that the state police will seek help from central agencies on a possible Pakistan angle in the incident.
The incident occurred in Takkarpura village of Patti town on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, they said.
Haryana Police have arrested a woman who allegedly harboured Amritpal Singh and his associate Papalpreet Singh at her home in Kurukshetra district, an indication that the pro-Khalistan preacher might have fled Punjab.
BKU leader Rakesh Tikait said they planned to meet President Droupadi Murmu and will hold another mahapanchayat in Haryana's Kurukshetra on Friday to discuss the next steps in the agitation.
A joint team of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh police has arrested an accomplice of pro-Khalistan terrorists in Lucknow, police said on Tuesday.
Security forces took out flag marches at several places including Ferozepur, Bathinda, Rupnagar, Faridkot, Batala, Fazilka, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Moga and Jalandhar in a show of strength.
"The entire edifice of security of the PM, in a federal structure like ours, stands on the strong bond of mutual trust and confidence between state police and the SPG. State police are fully responsible for ensuring a secure route for the PM's travel," former NSG Director General Sudeep Lakhtakia said.
A fresh petition seeking a National Investigation Agency probe into the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab on January 5 was filed before the Supreme Court on Monday.
The top court was hearing the plea of an organisation 'Lawyer's Voice' seeking a thorough investigation into the breach in Prime Minister Modi's security in Punjab and ensuring there is no such event in the future.
The Punjab government has ordered the closure of schools till July 13 while in Chandigarh schools are closed till Thursday.
Such is the situation of the government in Punjab, the prime minister said while hitting out the Congress, and asserted that he will come to Jalandhar again and pay obeisance at the Devi Talab Mandir.
'The Punjab police was taking the prime minister by road for 100 km for the first time, maybe in the last many years.' 'But the SPG keeps travelling with the prime minister every second-third day outside Delhi.' 'They are better aware of the drill; they understand the PM's security parameters better than the Punjab police.' 'They could have refused even if the clearance was given by the Punjab police.'
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana also appointed the Inspector General of the National Investigation Agency, Director General of Police of Chandigarh, the Registrar General of the Punjab and Haryana high court and the Additional DGP (Security) of Punjab as members to the Justice Malhotra panel.
Supporters of Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda sect blocked rail and road traffic at various places in Punjab for the second day on Sunday, demanding that cinema halls screen sect leader Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh's film MSG-2.
A political slugfest broke out on Wednesday between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cavalcade, in a major security breach, got stranded on a flyover, 30 km away from Hussainiwala in Punjab, as a group of protesting farmers blocked his route.
I telephoned Chief Minister Darbara Singh and asked him why this carefully thought-out plan had suddenly been aborted. The Chief Minister sounded very agitated and all he said was that this was not his decision, but the orders had come directly from Home Minister Zail Singh. A fascinating excerpt from retired IAS officer Ravi Sawhney's book, Living A Life.
The Centre on Friday supported a petition in the Supreme Court for a thorough probe into a "massive security breach" during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Punjab, and sought the involvement of the National Investigation Agency in the probe as there was a possibility of "international terrorist angle" and it was a unique case that had the potential to cause "embarrassment".
The Pune-bound train derailed at 3:10 am, injuring three passengers.
Deputy Inspector General (Ferozepur Range) Hardial Singh Mann, in an official release, said the murder was the handiwork of some gangsters. Mann said they have arrested 11 persons for their alleged role in the crime. The accused are still being questioned to ascertain their motive behind killing Balwinder, he said.
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal's bullet-proof car was damaged and four people were injured in a clash between Congress and Akali workers during the filing of nomination papers for the Jalalabad municipal polls in Fazilka on Tuesday, officials said.
