New Delhi, Oct. 19: Karanbir Singh, a Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) militant who fled Punjab police custody yesterday, had come to Delhi to set off blasts during the Commonwealth Games, security agencies said.

Karanbir, 24, was arrested on Sunday from a village in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur with 1.5 kg of RDX and two AK 47 rifles. He was kept in a police lock-up, from where he went to the toilet and apparently escaped through a window. The Centre is believed to have taken the police claim with a pinch of salt.

Sources said Karanbir, alias Karan, and an accomplice had come to Delhi before and during the Games and surveyed some locations in Delhi. Tips on his involvement came from people, some 47 of them, picked up last month.

“The blasts were to be triggered in a location in South Delhi and in RK Puram,” a source said, adding the duo had returned to Punjab after failing to do any damage.

The finger of suspicion is again at Pakistan’s ISI that is known to have sheltered Karanbir and BKI chief Wadhawa Singh. Wadhawa and Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) leader P.S. Panjwar are believed to have sent Karanbir and his accomplice to India to disrupt the Games.

Karanbir has been based in Pakistan for the last few years. He was involved in planning blasts in Punjab’s Nabha and Halwara this February, which were averted.

These revelations follow disclosures that western intelligence agencies had warned India about crack teams of al-Qaida and Lashkar militants preparing to attack Games venues and hotels.

A resurgence of Punjab militants is known to be taking place in Europe and Canada. Sources said several meetings of the BKI and KCF have taken place in the UK, Germany and Austria.

The Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing are expanding operations to keep tabs on the resurgence, sources said.