Overview
- Punjab and Amritsar police announced on August 4 that they had arrested nine people, including four juveniles, in two alleged ISI‑linked cross‑border modules and seized three pistols, live cartridges and petrol‑bomb materials.
- Investigators reported that some suspects travelled to Delhi, reached Jantar Mantar for reconnaissance and were instructed to prepare petrol bombs but did not carry out an attack, and the claims are being checked through CCTV, travel and financial forensics.
- Punjab Police issued a formal clarification saying the original briefing never alleged protesters were part of the terror modules and that edited video excerpts changed context to imply a link between the arrested individuals and Jantar Mantar demonstrators.
- The Amritsar police commissioner, Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, was transferred on August 7, a move that drew criticism from opposition leaders who questioned the timing and raised political tensions over the case.
- Beyond the immediate arrests and verification work, the episode highlights two wider risks: reliance on interrogation and seized materials that still need independent corroboration, and how selectively edited social media clips can reshape public debate and prompt IT Act cases.