Sri Ganganagar: Rajasthan Police Additional Director General (ADGP) Dinesh M N on Sunday said two accused arrested in connection with the November 3 blast on the Anupgarh-Suratgarh railway line were provided an IED by a Pakistan-based handler, identified as Shah.
He further said the handler had specified the location for the explosion and directed the accused to carry out the blast.
He further said a joint team of the Ganganagar Police and Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), with assistance from the Gurdaspur Police in Punjab, arrested two individuals on Saturday.
The arrested accused have been identified as Devendra Singh and Mahakdeep Kaur, both residents of Gurdaspur in Punjab.
Speaking to the reporters, ADGP Dinesh, currently serving as the head of ATS said, "A joint team from Ganganagar and the ATS, with the assistance of the Gurdaspur (Punjab) Police, arrested two individuals yesterday… They have confessed to their involvement and will be produced before the court. Furthermore, their mobile records and other evidence gathered during our investigation have established their specific roles in the incident.”
He said the accused had visited the area three times before successfully carrying out the blast on their third attempt.
"They had visited the area three times; the first two attempts were unsuccessful, and they ultimately carried out the blast on the 3rd. We have recovered evidence confirming that a handler in Pakistan, known as Shah, provided them with the IED and specified the location; they executed the blast at his direction," he further said.
"We are currently examining why Ganganagar was specifically chosen; the reasons will become clearer as the investigation progresses. Given that it is a border district—and considering the recent developments in Punjab - Ganganagar is indeed regarded as a sensitive area… As the investigation continues, we will explore whether the group responsible for sending the RDX and the IEDs in the previous instance might be the same team operating from the Pakistani side. They received approximately Rs 2.03 lakh," he said.
The blast occurred on November 3 on the Anupgarh-Suratgarh railway line near 50 GB village in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar district. The accused are currently set to be produced before the court.