Jalalabad motorcycle blast an 'act of terror', one held: Police

The Punjab Police on Saturday described the Jalalabad motorcycle blast as an "act of terror" and said it has arrested one person in connection with the case.

Chandigarh: The Punjab Police on Saturday described the Jalalabad motorcycle blast as an "act of terror" and said it has arrested one person in connection with the case. The accused has been identified as Parveen Kumar, a native of Fazilka district's Dharmupura village, which is just three kilometers from the India-Pakistan border, police said.

A 22-year-old man, Balwinder Singh, was killed after the fuel tank of his motorcycle exploded in Fazilka's Jalalabad on September 15. During the investigation, Kumar's role in hatching a conspiracy to blow up the motorcycle in a crowded area came to light, the police said. After learning about Kumar's role, the Fazilka police launched a probe based on the available clues and arrested him on Saturday, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ferozepur Range, Jatinder Singh Aulakh said in a statement.

During questioning, Kumar revealed that the motorcycle that was being driven by Balwinder was supposed to be parked in a crowded area in Jalalabad city, the officer said. Kumar also revealed that the planning for this "act of terror" was done on September 14 at the house of one Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukha, a resident of Ferozepur's Chandi Wala village, the IGP said.

Gurpreet Singh, a native of Lakhmir Ke Hitthar village in Mamdot, was also part of the plan, he said. Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Hilori said that based on the inputs gathered from Kumar, all four accused, including Balwinder, have been booked and efforts are on to arrest Sukhwinder and Gurpreet. He said all the four accused have a criminal background and are related to each other.

Based on Kumar's instance and information provided by a farmer, a tiffin bomb that the accused had hidden in the fields in his village was also recovered, the police said. On August 8, the Amritsar Rural police had recovered five hand grenades and a tiffin bomb from Daleke village in Lopoke. On August 20, the Kapurthala police had also recovered two hand grenades, one tiffin bomb and other explosive material from Phagwara. Another tiffin bomb was used to blow up an oil tanker in Ajnala on August 8.

PTI