Use of high capacity drones for smuggling in ammunition, with easy availability of vulnerable youth who can be lured into carry out acts of sabotage with some inducements, are threatening the peace in Punjab. Regular and repeated grenade attacks in the state are a serious cause of concern.
It was the sixteenth grenade attack within a span of seven months in Punjab when some unidentified persons hurled a grenade at the house of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manoranjan Kalia in Jalandhar on Monday night. While on most occasions the Punjab Police had ruled out use of grenades in the blast and played down the incidents, this time the police admitted it was a grenade attack.
According to reports, the police have detained two suspect conspirators also. They are believed to be the associates of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The newspaper said that the “grenades used in the incidents were mainly of Arges model, which seem to have been taken from Pakistan army’s dump of old explosives”. Similar explosives, according to the newspaper, were used in Mumbai blasts and the parliament attack.
The Punjab Police have claimed that the conspirators were close associates of Bishnoi. The Police also suggested the role of the militant organization Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) in this attack. The BKI is alleged to have been involved in some earlier grenade attacks in Punjab also. The saboteurs' alleged link with Bisnhnoi is intriguing, since he has always claimed himself to be a patriot.
Also read: Jalandhar grenade attack accused held; Bishnoi link found
A few days ago, a grenade attack took place in Haryana town of Kaithal also, which was allegedly claimed by the same militant organization.
While the Punjab Police have claimed to have arrested the suspect conspirators, the plot and conspiracy appear to be much larger and deeper. One alarming thing of great concern is that the saboteurs have, so far, managed to strike at will wherever they have wanted. There were similar attacks on police posts and outside a temple in Amritsar.
In March one of the suspects involved in a grenade attack on a temple in Amritsar was killed in an encounter with the police.
While the security agencies have ruled out any widespread network or presence of sleeper cells in Punjab, they are apprehensive that the Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan in close coordination with some militants based in Pakistan, has been regularly managing to cause such incidents in Punjab.
Another issue of concern is the use of high capacity drones, which are capable of carrying out heavier loads and traveling longer distances. While it is an accepted fact that a massive quantity of drugs is smuggled into the state using drones, there is also a likelihood of weapons and ammunition also being smuggled in through drones.
The ISI handlers manage to rope in local youth, mostly from economically weaker sections with some inducements to carry out such acts. So far, the security agencies have not nabbed any ideologically indoctrinated or motivated suspect in such incidents. They are mostly like mercenaries who are promised “good monetary rewards” for such acts. Many youth succumb to the temptations and inducements without realizing the consequences.
While so far, the Punjab Police would play down all such incidents, it is for the first time that they have come out with a response after an attack on a BJP leader’s house. There is an apprehension that if the saboteurs can strike at will like that, they may be capable of causing greater damage also. There have been selective and targeted killings in the past.
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