Militants stayed in Bareilly for hrs using encrypted apps: Cops

PILIBHIT POLICE HAD SENT THREE MOBILE PHONES RECOVERED FROM THE SLAIN MILITANTS FOR FORENSIC EXAMINATION

- HT Correspondent

LUCKNOW: Mobile locations and internet activity retrieved from the device of one of the three Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) militants, gunned down in a police encounter in Pilibhit's Puranpur on December 23, have revealed key details about the movement of pro-Khalistan groups in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region.

Senior police officials confirmed on Monday that the militants stayed for several hours in Bareilly before heading to Pilibhit.

The Pilibhit police had sent three mobile phones recovered from the slain militants-Gurwinder Singh, 25, Virendra Singh alias Ravi, 23, and Jasan Preet Singh alias Pratap Singh, 18, all residents of Gurdaspur, Punjab-for forensic examination.

The forensic report indicated that only one phone was operational before the encounter, while the other two had been switched off since the trio's attack on a police outpost in Punjab's Gurdaspur district on December 18.

"The phone's location and net activity indicate that the militants stayed in Bareilly for several hours, where locals arranged their hotel stay and transport to Puranpur, Pilibhit," a senior police official said.