Chandigarh, April 23 (IANS): Punjab Police has averted possible target killing planned by cross-border operatives with the arrest of a man linked to a Pakistan-based terror module, Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said here on Tuesday.

The accused has been identified as Lovepreet Singh, alias Picho, of Udho Nangal village in Amritsar.

Police teams have also recovered a .30-bore automatic Chinese pistol along with a magazine and four cartridges from his possession.

DGP Yadav said acting swiftly on intelligence inputs, police teams from the Counter Intelligence, Jalandhar laid a special checkpoint in the Rama Mandi area and arrested the accused after recovering the sophisticated automatic pistol from his possession.

He said the probe revealed the accused was being handled by Pakistan-based operatives, who tasked him to carry out target killings in Jammu and Kashmir to create fear and unrest in society.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Counter-Intelligence, Navjot Singh Mahal said the accused had received money in his bank account via Dubai and procured the pistol along with ammunition from Samba.

Further investigations are going on, he added.