By IANS,
Amritsar : A Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist with a reward of Rs.10 lakh on his head has been arrested in Punjab, police said Wednesday.
Narain Singh Chaura was arrested Tuesday evening in Jalalabad village of the border district of Tarn Taran, some 300 km from Chandigarh.
Chaura was booked under the provisions of the Explosives Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in Amritsar in May 2010 and since then he had been untraced and on the run, a Punjab Police spokesperson said.
Following revelations by Chaura, police have recovered an AK-56 assault rifle with 20 rounds, a .30 pistol with 50 rounds, five hand grenades and other ammunition from Kurali village in Mohali district near Chandigarh, the spokesperson added.
Two of his accomplices — Sukhwant Singh and Sukhdev Singh — were also arrested following leads provided by him during interrogation.
Chaura was being tracked by police as he was trying to revive militancy in Punjab, a senior police officer said in Chandigarh.
He was also involved in Chandigarh’s Burail Jail break by Babbar Khalsa terrorists Jagtar Singh Hawara, Jagtar Singh Tara and Paramjit Singh Bheura. The trio escaped from the high-security jail through a 108-foot-long tunnel on the intervening night of Jan 21-22, 2004.
The police spokesperson said that Chura, who used different names, had been actively associated with militant activities in Punjab since early 1980s.
“In 1984, he crossed over to Pakistan and was instrumental in smuggling in a huge consignment of weapons and explosives during the initial stages of militancy in Punjab. While in Pakistan, he authored a book on guerrilla warfare and other seditious literature,” the spokesperson said.
“He returned to India in 1986, went underground and later again crossed over to Pakistan. In 1989, he came back to operate in India under the assumed names of Chamkaur Singh and Kapoor Singh Jamraudh. He founded the Akal Federation and later the Khalistan Liberation Army outfits,” the spokesperson added.