CHANDIGARH: A gangster-terror module was busted by the Punjab Police with the arrest of five suspects.

Seven such modules have been unearthed in the last three weeks. The arrested men were allegedly assigned “target killings” by handlers operating from Pakistan, Canada, and Europe.

Sources said the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, through its handlers, has been using YouTube videos to train recruits remotely on how to operate and detonate hand grenades.

Police recovered these instructional videos—downloaded and shared via WhatsApp using virtual numbers—from the mobile phones of the alleged suspects. The accused have been identified as Deepak, alias Deepu, and Ram Lal, who travelled from Rajasthan to coordinate and execute a terror attack in Ludhiana. The other three are Shamsher Singh from Ferozepur in Punjab, Harsh Ojha from Bihar, and Ajay from Haryana.

Ludhiana Police Commissioner Swapan Sharma said the accused were specifically tasked by their Pakistan-based handler, Jasveer alias Choudhary, to carry out grenade attacks in the state. “These Pakistan-based handlers are deliberately recruiting criminals from other states to commit terror acts in Punjab, as youths from Bihar, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra are being recruited to orchestrate grenade attacks in the state. We are in touch with the National Investigation Agency to unearth their foreign links,” he said.

Police officials privy to the investigation said that after ‘Operation Sindoor,’ there has been a sharp rise in assigned target killings, with gangster-terror modules receiving hit lists, weapons, and logistical support from handlers abroad. “There is credible evidence that the ISI of Pakistan is trying its best to disturb peace in the state, as it is pressurising its contacts among gangsters through foreign handlers to carry out target killings,” said one official.

There has also been a five-fold increase in weapons smuggling across the border. A total of 375 weapons—including AK-47 rifles, grenades, and improvised explosive devices—were seized till October 31 this year, surpassing the total number recovered from 2021 to 2024, according to state police data.