Three members of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) who were allegedly involved in the grenade attack on a police station in Gurdaspur on Friday were gunned down by a joint team of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh police in Pilibhit on Monday.
The deceased have been identified as Virendra Singh alias Ravi, 23, Jasprit Singh alias Pratap Singh, 18, and Gurvindar Singh, 25. All three were residents of Kalanaur town in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.
Pilibhit superintendent of police Avinash Pandey told reporters after the encounter that a team of Gurdaspur police had arrived in the district following a tip-off that the trio were hiding in Puranpur.
“As we intensified our search operation, we got information that three youths carrying huge bags were headed towards Pilibhit town on a motorcycle. They fired on the police team when we intercepted them. All three sustained injuries in the encounter and were declared dead at the hospital,” Pandey said.
“The Punjab police have identified them as residents of Gurdaspur. They were involved in a grenade attack on a police station in Gurdaspur on December 20 and had been hiding in Pilibhit,” he added.
The government claims that the KZF is a Pakistan-sponsored terrorist organisation.
Amitabh Yash, Uttar Pradesh’s additional director-general of police (law and order), said: “The youths had suffered injuries and were taken to the community health centre in Puranpur for treatment. But they died there.”
Two AK-47 rifles, two Glock pistols and a huge cache of ammunition were seized from them, he said.
The Punjab police posted on X: “In a joint operation against Pakistan’s ISI operative in Punjab, a collaborative effort between UP police and Punjab police led to an encounter with three operatives of the KZF in the jurisdiction of PS (Police Station) Puranpur, Pilibhit.”
It said that the deceased were involved in the attack on Bakshiwala police station at Kalanaur in Gurdaspur district.
“This module is controlled by Ranjeet Singh Nita, the chief of the KZF, and operated by Jaswinder Singh Mannu, based in Greece,” the post added.