Days after twin Punjab blasts, 3 arrested with fake police ID cards near airbase
The three accused would use the fake identity cards to police checking and payment at toll plazas, officials said. All of them have been identified as residents of the Hoshiarpur district in the state.
Three men were arrested near the Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Punjab's Pathankot after they were allegedly found in the possession of fake police identity cards. Notably, the incident came just days after twin blasts near security facilities in the state.
The accused would use the fake identity cards to police checking and payment at toll plazas, officials said. All of them have been identified as residents of the Hoshiarpur district in Punjab.
According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Vipan Kumar, the trio were caught at a police checkpoint near the airbase. The group was seen roaming around suspiciously in the area, the officer said. When they were questioned by the cops, they were unable to give any satisfactory answers and tried to cross the checkpoint by showing police ID cards.
The behaviour aroused suspicion and the police personnel began questioning them strictly. Subsequently, it was revealed that the ID cards were fake. The three were then taken to the police station for further investigation.
A case has been registered against them, and they are being interrogated, said Kumar. He said the accused would be produced before a court for remand. The incident came less than a week after two back-to-back explosions near security establishments rocked Punjab on May 5.
While the first blast took place in Jalandhar outside the headquarters of the Border Security Force's (BASF's) Punjab Frontier, the second one occurred near the army cantonment in Amritsar.
Following the twin blasts, the police said they suspected a plot by Pakistan's main intelligence agency, the ISI, to cause disruptions before the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
"We assume that, as today is the Operation Sindoor anniversary, this is part of Pakistan's ISI's designs to cause disruptions in Punjab. Punjab is fighting a proxy war on behalf of the nation against Pakistan," Punjab's Director General of Police, Gaurav Yadav, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The Pathankot airbase was the site of a deadly terror attack in 2016. The military installation's outer perimeter was breached by multiple armed terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad in early January that year.
Seven security personnel and one civilian lost their lives in the attack.