On Monday, officers from Amritsar Rural Police seized four men in a sting operation that traced a terror cell to Pakistani handlers. The group had plotted to strike police officers in the region, the police said, and had already carried out a shooting on October 4 that left ASI Sukhchain Singh wounded.
The shooting occurred at 7:15 p.m. when the ASI was riding home from the Government Railway Police station in Jagdev Khurd. Three motorcycle‑borne youths approached him within 200 m and opened fire. A bullet struck the officer’s left arm, and he was rushed to Civil Hospital in Ajnala, where he is recovering with his wife and two children by his side.
Investigators say the gang was orchestrated by Baljit Singh, a former inmate of Goindwal Sahib Central Jail, who re‑connected with Pakistani ISI contacts via a mobile phone while incarcerated. The handlers offered ₹10 lakh to the cell for the attack, according to the FIR filed under Sections 109, 61(2) and 3(5) of the BNS and Section 25 of the Arms Act.
Simarjit Singh, Sahib Singh, and Baljit Singh, son of Mewa Singh, were arrested in the operation, while the fourth suspect, Baljit Singh, son of Baban Singh, remains at large. During a subsequent raid, Sahib Singh was injured when he tried to snatch a service revolver from a police vehicle; a bullet hit his leg and the vehicle’s roof.
Chief Superintendent Kanwalpreet Singh Chahal has directed a special investigation team comprising officers from the investigation wing, Ajnala police station and the CIA unit to pursue the remaining suspect. The case is now under a court‑ordered probe, and the police expect to file a charge sheet within the next fortnight.