In a major breakthrough in the RPG attack at Mohali intelligence headquarters, the prime accused named Charat Singh on Thursday was arrested from Mumbai in a joint operation carried out by the Punjab Police and Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS). Punjab DGP Gaurab Yadav informed about the arrest of Charat Singh on his Twitter handle and expressed his gratitude to Maharashtra ATS for a successful joint operation. For the unversed, the police had named Charat Singh as the main attacker along with two unidentified accomplices who carried out the RPG blast at the Mohali intelligence headquarters on May 9 this year. After multiple arrests including a man, Punjab Police had launched a manhunt to nab Charat Singh in the aforementioned case. Furthermore, Punjab DGP informed that Charat Singh is also a key operative and associate of Canada-based BKI terrorist Lakhbir Singh (Landa)
Charat Singh, a resident of Mehdipur village in Khem Karan, 3km from Pakistan border, was out on a 56-day parole granted after eight years of his conviction in a murder case.
Here's what DGP Punjab said on Charat Singh's arrest-
Charat Singh main accused in #RPG attack at Intel HQs #Mohali, #Punjab arrested from #Mumbai pic.twitter.com/p40Wg1NJXD
— DGP Punjab Police (@DGPPunjabPolice) October 13, 2022
Furthermore, people who have been arrested in the case include- Nishant Singh of Kulla village in Bhikhiwind, Jagdeep Singh Kang of Sector 85 in Mohali, Kanwarjit Singh, alias Kanwar Bath of Gumtala in Amritsar, Baljinder Singh, alias Rambo, of Patti, Baljit Kaur, alias Sukhi, of Kot Khalsa in Amritsar, Anant Deep Singh, alias Sonu, of Guru Nanak Colony in Amritsar and Lovepreet Singh, alias Vicky.
Mohali RPG Attack
(Then) Mohali Superintendent of Police (HQ) Ravinder Pal Singh called it a 'minor blast' saying that no one was harmed in the incident. However, upon assessing the ammunition head, police found that it was the RPG-22 codenamed 'Netto'. It is a one-shot disposable Soviet anti-tank rocket launcher that propels a 72.5mm fin-stabilised projectile. When required, it can be prepared within 10 seconds before the fire. The ammunition can penetrate 1.2 metres of brick, 400mm of armour or 1 metre of reinforced concrete.
On May 13, (then) Punjab DGP Viresh Kumar Bhawra was quoted saying said the RPG attack was jointly carried out by an 'axis of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and gangsters with the backing of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)'. Furthermore, Bhawra had identified the key conspirator as Lakhbir Singh Landa who hails from Punjab's Tarn Taran district and has been in Canada since 2017. The DGP said Lakhbir Landa was an associate of Harvinder Rinda who was close to BKI chief Wadhawa Singh and the ISI.