Chandigarh

Punjab Police on Saturday arrested another suspect in connection with the recent blast on the dedicated freight corridor railway track in Shambhu, located in Patiala.

Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said Gurjinder Singh, also known as Baba Beant, was taken into custody during a joint operation carried out by the State Special Operation Cell in Amritsar, Patiala Police, and the Counter Intelligence unit in Pathankot.

According to police, Gurjinder was a close associate of Jagroop Singh, who was killed on April 27 while allegedly attempting to trigger explosives on the railway track.

In a statement posted on social media, Yadav said preliminary findings linked Gurjinder not only to the Shambhu blast but also to the Sirhind railway track explosion and a grenade attack on the CIA unit in Moga. Investigators believe these attacks were carried out under instructions from handlers operating from abroad.

Police have alleged that the operation was part of a pro-Khalistan terror network supported by Pakistan’s ISI, adding that four members of the module had already been arrested earlier.

The explosion near Bothonia village damaged the freight railway line and created a crater beneath the track. Though initially believed to be a low-intensity blast, subsequent investigation suggested it was an attempt to sabotage the railway infrastructure.

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Officials said this was the second such attack on the freight corridor in the last three months. In January, a similar explosion near Sirhind in Fatehgarh Sahib had damaged a train engine and left the loco pilot injured.