Ludhiana: The Ludhiana Commissionerate Police, in a coordinated joint operation with Counter Intelligence Punjab, has dismantled a major transnational terror-gangster nexus following the arrest of two more active operatives. Law enforcement officials recovered two live, military-grade hand grenades from the suspects, effectively thwarting a major planned terror attack across the state. The specialized module is heavily linked to the notorious international Lakha gang, which has been executing operations through foreign-based handlers.
Ludhiana Commissioner of Police Swapan Sharma confirmed that the network first came under intense tracking on May 17, 2026, when tactical police teams successfully foiled a targeted assassination plot near the Hardy’s World amusement park within the Ladowal police station jurisdiction. During that initial raid, security forces intercepted two contract shooters, identified as Anuraj, alias Gaurav Masih, and Ankush, both residents of Phillaur, seizing three illegal pistols and 11 live cartridges. A criminal case was subsequently registered under First Information Report Number 91, invoking stringent provisions of the Arms Act and Section 111 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with organized crime.
Subsequent interrogation of the captured shooters during their police remand exposed an extensive, cross-border command structure. The arrested operatives confessed that they were acting on specific execution commands from overseas handlers, including Germany-based key conspirators Jorawar Singh and Lakha, alongside Dubai-based operative Sahil Sondhi, alias Chunj. Deepening their technical investigation, the local Crime Investigation Agency staff and counter-intelligence teams successfully traced the module’s dedicated explosives supply chain, mapping it directly to the Majha region of Punjab.
This breakthrough culminated in the arrest of two primary logistics providers, identified as Karandeep Singh, alias Karan, a resident of village Khairuddin Ke under the Jhabal police station in Tarn Taran, and Baljit Singh, alias Sanju, a resident of the Purani Basti locality under the Ramdas police station in Amritsar. Police intelligence indicates that the duo had been integrated into the active terror cell by Malaysia-based handler Akashdeep Singh, alias Golden. Karandeep Singh is a habitual offender with a significant criminal record, already facing multiple trials for attempted murder and cross-border narcotics trafficking under the NDPS Act. Following the recovery of the military-grade explosives, investigators have added Sections 3, 4, and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act along with Section 317(2) of the BNS to the active FIR, while specialized squads continue conducting multi-district raids to destroy the network’s remaining domestic hideouts.
