LUCKNOW/MEERUT: Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday busted a module of a pro-Khalistan terror outfit in Shamli district and arrested its three members who were planning to target former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and his family. The three men, Karam Singh, Gurujant alias Jenta and Amreet alias Amrit, were arrested after a brief gun battle on Sunday night.They had attacked a constable and a home guard in Shamli's Jhinjhana on October 2 and had looted their arms - an INSAS and a .303 rifle "This module of pro-Khalistan ultras busted by UP Police had several VVIPs including Punjab's Badal family on its target. They were planning to bomb Badal rallies in Patiala , Bathinda, Faridkot and elsewhere. Their foreign funding and ISI allegiance are being probed," said UP DGP O P Singh.Badal and his son and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir had recently held a rally at Patiala on October 7.The arrests are being seen as a big crackdown by UP Police on pro-Khalistan radicals and a big achievement for police.UP Police said that they were on the lookout of a top pro-Khalistan ultra, who goes by the moniker Jerman, and has been manoeuvring support from abroad to launch an attack on Badals and other leaders.UP Police said that Jerman had arranged a cache of arms in a village in Punjab's Ropar for the attack."The three accused arrested had hidden the looted arms in a local gurdwara and were planning to shift them to Punjab where Jerman already has a cache of arms," said a top UP police official."Apart from Jerman, name of his aide, Karma, a resident of Shamli, has also come up. We are trying to trace their whereabouts," the official said.In September 2017, Punjab police and UP anti-terrorist squad (ATS) had arrested six suspects who had non-bailable warrants issued against them for their role in jailbreaks in various UP districts.

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