Amritsar, January 16
The State Special Operation Cell of the Punjab Police have booked unknown operatives of gangster-terrorist nexus on charges of cross border smuggling of contraband, arms and ammunition and counterfeit currency in order to carry out nefarious activities in the border state.
The accused was also involved in the targeted killings and extortion on the instructions of their handlers in Pakistan and other foreign countries, including Canada and USA. As per information, the suspect has links with foreign based gangsters and terrorists and was in contact with them with virtual numbers generated through certain mobile applications. Though the police sources confirmed the same but they were tight-lipped over the issue as it could hamper investigations.
A case under Sections 21, 23 ,24, 27, 29, 30, 32, 35 of the NDPS Act, Section 25 of Arms Act, 489-A, 489-B, 489-C, 120 and 120-B of the IPC and Sections 3, 4, 5 of the Explosive Act and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act has been registered in this connection.
The virtual numbers has become a great headache for the Punjab Police as these numbers could not be located on the telecommunication records. The city police had written to the higher authorities seeking ban on several mobile applications which were generating virtual numbers.
In the FIR, the police said they received a secret information that operatives of gangsters-terrorist nexus were generating virtual numbers using various platforms available on the public domain of the internet by using fake identifications. Due to this they are out of the reach of the police and carry out their nefarious activities.
According to senior police official, the FIR was a step by the police to tighten noose around unidentified operatives and accomplices of gangster-terrorist nexus using virtual number of creating law and order trouble in Punjab.
