Babbar Khalsa International militant escapes from Police custody in Hoshiarpur

HOSHIARPUR - A militant of the banned outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) managed to escape from detention on Monday in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur District.

Karanbir Singh escaped from the custody of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) staff in the wee hours of the morning.

According to police, a red alert notice and reward has been also been announced for the militant.

“He escaped around one o’clock in the morning; the CIA (Crime Investigation Agency) staff had his custody when he demanded to go to the toilet, from where he broke the windows and managed to escape,” said Rakesh Agarwal, Senior Superintendent of Police, Hoshiarpur.

“Five officials have been suspended and a reward of five lakh rupees has been announced for the person who helps in catching him,” he added.

He also said that Singh was arrested on the Sunday night with huge cache of arms, explosives and ammunition and he was being interrogated.

“Karanbir Singh was arrested by the team of CIA. The other ammunition seized form him were AK-47 rifle, three magazines, 90 cartridges, hand grenade, detonators, one and half kilograms of RDX (explosive), wires, fuse wires,” said Agarwal.

Agarwal also said that a case has been registered against the supporters of Singh and they have been arrested.

According to the state police during his interrogation Singh admitted murdering Pradhan Singh, a local religious leader and was planning a major attack in Punjab. (ANI)