Babbar Khalsa Terrorist Arrested with Weapons Near Maha Kumbh Amid Fake ID Scheme | Lucknow News

LUCKNOW: A day after the arrest of Lajjar Masih, a terrorist of the banned Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) with alleged links to Pakistan’s ISI, the STF said he created a fake residential address proof in Ghaziabad using fraudulent documents obtained from a doctor in Punjab. Masih, who was in constant contact with his handlers via the Signal app, attempted thrice to enter the Maha Kumbh but failed. His arrest in Kaushambi foiled a terror attack, say STF sleuths.
“Further investigations uncovered that Masih approached a Delhi-based gang to acquire a fake passport. He applied for one from Ghaziabad, securing an appointment in January but failed to appear. The fraudulent passport process involved a middleman who demanded Rs 15 lakh, of which Masih already paid Rs 2.5 lakh,” said Amitabh Yash, additional DG, law and order UP Police.
A senior officer privy to the probe revealed that Masih passed Class 12 from the arts stream and, since a young age, was fascinated by the Khalistan ideology.
“Masih, who was receiving orders via the Signal app from Latvia and Portugal simultaneously for an attack during Maha Kumbh, first tried to enter Prayagraj in the first week of February. However, it was foiled due to the alacrity of the cops and random checking at different points in the city. Masih then left the place and stayed for a day at a hotel in Lucknow,” said the officer. By February 10, Masih again tried to enter Maha Kumbh using a different route from Rewa Road and again failed to breach the security cordon.
STF officials privy to the probe, based on the messages retrieved from the app, revealed that he was in a state of confusion and was asked to wait until February 26, when the Maha Kumbh was on the verge of completion. He tried to make an entrance via the Kaushambi route but again faced the same problem with security and multiple friskings, so he failed and decided to stay in Kaushambi. In the meantime, through a gang, he was planning to flee to Portugal and was nabbed by the STF.
Twenty-nine-year-old Lajjar Masih, a resident of Kurlian village in Amritsar, was arrested in a joint operation by the Uttar Pradesh special task force (UP STF) and Punjab Police near Sakadaha Tiraha in Kaushambi at 3.20am. Police also recovered three active hand grenades, two detonators, a foreign-made Norinco M-54 Tokarev pistol (7.62 mm), 13 live cartridges (7.62×25 mm), foreign-made explosive powder, an Aadhaar card bearing a Ghaziabad address, and a mobile phone without a SIM card.
STF said that all the weapons recovered are from foreign countries, and an independent probe is being conducted as to how he acquired them and also those who helped him in acquiring them.