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 the vehicle they were travelling in, senior police officials said.
They were allegedly in touch with a Pakistan-based man, who is involved in terror activities and who used to send locations through an app to them to deliver explosives and weapons, Superintendent of Police, Karnal, Ganga Ram Punia told reporters in Karnal.
Director-General of Haryana Police P K Agrawal said the four were arrested in a joint operation carried out by Haryana and Punjab police based on intelligence inputs of central agencies.
"In an intelligence-led operation, Punjab Police and Haryana Police arrested four persons today at Karnal with the recovery of 3 IEDs weighing 2.5 Kg each and one pistol. Further investigation is on," the Punjab Police said in a tweet.
The four -- all residents of Punjab -- were nabbed near Bastara toll plaza, Karnal Range Inspector General of Police, Satender Kumar Gupta, said.
"Three containers each weighing 2.5 kg suspected to contain RDX, a pistol and 31 round live cartridges, besides Rs 1.3 lakh cash have been seized from the vehicle," Gupta told PTI over the phone.
Punia told reporters that the four identified as Bhupinder Singh from Ludhiana and Gurpreet Singh, Parminder Singh and Amandeep Singh from Ferozepur were headed to Adilabad in Telangana to deliver a consignment of explosives,
"They were in touch with a Pakistan-based man Harvinder Singh Rinda, who is involved in terror activities and who used to send locations through an app to them to deliver explosives and weapons. Rinda used to drop weapons and explosives at a pre-designated location in the fields in Ferozepur with the help of drones," he said, adding "we are ascertaining the terrorist outfit with which they were associated".
Punia said Gurpreet Singh, the key accused, had met Rajbir Singh, an associate of Rinda, in jail.
"Rinda is involved in terror activities, he supplies arms and drugs and sends the location to them and their task is to transport these explosives and arms..," he said.
They will be produced before a court and taken on police remand after which they will be questioned in detail.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Rohtak, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said investigations in the case were underway and police were conducting an in depth probe.
Haryana's Home Minister Anil Vij told reporters that "four terrorists were going in the Innova vehicle. We arrested them on the basis of inputs and arms and ammunition has been recovered. Further probe is on".
"Preliminary investigations have revealed certain things, which we need to cross-check and ascertain more categorically," Director General of Police, P K Agrawal told PTI.
When asked if the arms and ammunition they were transporting were dropped in the fields in Ferozepur in Punjab using a drone from Pakistan, the DGP said, "That is what they have told, but these details we need to verify and establish the veracity of these facts".
After the vehicle was intercepted in Karnal, a bomb disposal squad and forensic experts reached the spot, police said.
Haryana Police has constituted a Special Investigation Team to conduct a further probe.
A case under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and under the provisions of the Arms Act and the Explosive Substance Act has been registered.