KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
12-Jun-2011
Punjab Police arrested a person in Jalandhar for facilitating the family of the militant Paramjit Singh Panjwar (who is on India's most-wanted list) procures passports on fake credentials. The arrestee, identified as Paramjit Singh (a namesake of the militant whom he was aiding), was a State Government employee.
12-Apr-2011
Avtar Singh Tari, an aide of the Chief of the Namdhari sect, SatguruJagjit Singh, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne unidentified assailants at Katani Kalan village of Ludhiana District in Punjab.
13-Mar-2011
Khalistani militant Jagtar Singh Tara, who was involved in the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, is reportedly planning to launch his outfit, Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) breaking away from the parent outfit BKI.
07-Mar-2011
The Amritsar Police arrested Sohan Singh alias Sohanjit Singh, a close associate of a Pakistan-based terrorist Paramjit Singh Panjwar, ‘chief’ of KCF. A .32 bore revolver, a magazine and five live cartridges were recovered from the possession of the arrested militant. On May 8, 2010, Sohan Singh had allegedly planted a bomb in a car near Circuit House in Amritsar with the help of Sukhdev Singh alias Chira, Ratandeep Singh, Narain Singh alias Chaura and Gurinder Singh alias Heera and Gurjit Singh. Police had announced a reward of INR one lakh for giving information on Sohanjit. Preliminary interrogation of Sohanjit Singh revealed that he was a close associate of Paramjit Singh Panjwar. He had visited Pakistan along with Sikh jatha's and was trying to revive terrorism in the State with the active support of Panjwar.
29-Jan-2011
Former Deputy Speaker of Punjab, Bir Devinder Singh, reportedly received a threatening email from militant outfit BKI. The email dispatched by BKI area commander Nishan Singh claimed that a meeting of BKI ‘area commanders’ was held some days ago, where they decided to recruit 1,000 unemployed youngsters from Punjab for the establishment of Khalistan in Punjab. BKI threatened to chastise the former Deputy Speaker for creating obstacles for them.
08-Dec-2010
The Central Government said that militant groups, especially those based abroad, were trying to revive militancy in Punjab. “Available reports suggest that militant groups, especially those based abroad, continue to persist with their efforts to revive militancy in Punjab," Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Maken said in a written reply. The Minister, however, added that no specific inputs were indicating the development of any nexus between Khalistani outfits like BKI or KZF and militant Islamist organizations like LeT.
11-Nov-2010
BKI terrorist, Makhan Singh, who was jointly arrested by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Khanna (Punjab) Police on October 23, 2010, from UP was handed over to the Hoshiarpur Police in connection with the killing of Sant Pardhan Singh. During interrogation, Makhan Singh had confessed to the killing of Sant Pardhan Singh with one of his accomplices Karanvir Singh alias Bablu, resident of Daroli, Adampur, who was arrested on October 18 from Qila Barun (ChhotaBajwara) and later fled from the CIA staff custody.
04-Nov-2010
The Punjab Police recovered a bomb, two detonators; a.30 bore Chinese pistol and six live cartridges following the interrogation of the recently arrested terrorists. SSP R S Khatra informed that after the interrogation of terrorist Jasmail Singh alias Sahib Singh, resident of Rupalheri village of the District, the Police recovered a bomb and two detonators from a hideout near Satluj Yamuna Link canal near Mehdoda village.
31-Oct-2010
Three terrorists, identified as Jasmail Singh alias Sahib Singh, Kulvinder Singh alias Kala and Arshpal Singh alias Rashpal Singh were arrested by a Police party near Buga Kanchian in Punjab when they were traveling in a car.
23-Oct-2010
The Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh (UP) arrested a BKI terrorist, identified as Makkhan Singh, from Barhni area of Sidharthnagar District on the Indo-Nepal border. ATS personnel also recovered one mobile phone along with Indian and foreign currencies from the accused. Makkhan was arrested when he was going to Punjab to acquire a fresh passport to leave India.
18-Oct-2010
An alleged BKI operative Karanbir Singh escaped from Police custody under the pretext of going to the toilet. The incident occurred in Hoshiarpur District when Police personnel and officers were interrogating Karanbir, who was booked for the murder of the head of a religious sect in June 2010. He escaped through a window. A reward of INR 5 lakh has been announced.
17-Oct-2010
A BKI operative,Karanbir was arrested along with an AK-47, an AK-56 assault rifle, two hand grenades, 5.4 kilograms of RDX, six magazines, 276 rounds of ammunition, two detonators, a timer device, and one remote control from Punjab.
10-Oct-2010
A cadre of the KZF, who is also associated with the BKI, was arrested by Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) of Uttar Pradesh Police from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The arrestee, identified as Gurjant Singh, was a native of Kurukshetra District in Haryana. An Italian pistol and some documents were seized from him. Gurjant reportedly acted as a link between KZF and BKI.
25-Aug-2010
The Intelligence Bureau (IB) warned that "inimical agencies" operating from "international bases" were trying to revive militancy in Punjab by allying with Khalistani outfits and the LeT. Calling attempts to revive Sikh militancy a worrisome trend, IB Chief Rajiv Mathur said, "There have been clear attempts by inimical agencies abroad to reactivate Sikh terrorist elements, forge nexus between LeT and terrorist groups like BKI and KZF and mobilize their resources for planning terrorist violence in Punjab and elsewhere in the country."
17-Aug-2010
The Central Government said that Sikh militant groups from abroad are trying to resurrect militancy in Punjab. "Available reports suggest that Sikh militant groups especially those based in abroad are continuing their efforts to revive militancy in Punjab," Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken informed the Lok Sabha.
13-Aug-2010
The Union Government removed names of 23 former Khalistani militants, all foreign nationals, from the Centre's list of blacklisted Sikh radicals as they are not involved in any serious criminal cases and anti-India activities. Consequently, these 23 persons will now be able to get an Indian visa and travel to any parts of India without any restriction.
04-Aug-2010
A serious attempt is being made by the militants sitting in Pakistan with the help of Pakistan’s Army and spy agencies to revive militancy in Punjab using former militants and border smugglers and International Border (IB) of Jammu for smuggling of arms, explosives and hawala money. Sources said Satnam Singh alias Tainy son of Prabhu Dayal, a resident of Kapoorpur in RS Pura and Parvesh son of Bihari Lal, a resident of Avtal in RS Pura were reported to have disclosed during their questioning by Police and CI that the militants of KZF with active connivance of Pakistan Army, Rangers and ISI used to throw consignments of arms, explosives, ammunition and hawala money from across the border to this side at a fixed point near the border fencing. The consignments were meant for ‘KZF’ militants in Punjab.
02-Aug-2010
Police claimed to have arrested two conduits of the KZF in connection with the seizure of arms and ammunition from Border out Post (BoP) Bakarpur in the R S Pura sector of Jammu District. Parveen Kumar son of Bihari Lal and Satnam alias Tani son of Prabhu Dayal resident of Kapoorpur in R S Pura was arrested by the Police in connection with the seizure of arms and ammunition from Border out Post (BoP) Bakarpur in RS Pura, a week ago. "Both the accused during interrogation disclosed that KZF chief Neeta, presently in Pakistan had sent the said consignment of arms and ammunition to this side for carrying subversive activities in Pakistan," sources said, adding that it was the second consignment sent by Neeta in last few months.
28-Jul-2010
The Punjab Police arrested five BKI militants with two AK-47 rifles and a huge quantity of ammunition and explosives. Pal Singh of Dhandowal village in Jalandhar, Kulwant Singh of Varpal village, Gurmukh Singh alias Gana of Pandori Mehma, Jagtar Singh of Thoba village in Amritsar and Darshan Singh Dhadi of Dhaliwal in Jalandhar were arrested with two AK-47 rifles, five magazines and 420 live rounds, including 200 armored piercing cartridges, Superintendent of Police (SP) P. Mandeep Singh said.
23-Jul-2010
Pakistan-based Sikh militants, supported by the Pakistani ISI, might carry out bomb blasts in New Delhi before the Commonwealth Games, the Punjab Police has alerted. An advisory circulated recently among all senior officers in the State by the intelligence department of Punjab Police has pointed out that Sikh militant leaders based in Pakistan are under "tremendous pressure" from the ISI to carry out sabotage activities in India before the Games. "Militant leaders, including KZF chief Ranjit Singh Neeta, are planning to undertake some militant actions, including bomb blasts, before the Games scheduled in New Delhi in October," the advisory said. It also stated that around 15 kilograms RDX was smuggled into India from Pakistan by Neeta's contacts, which was divided into three parts, most of which have been seized by Police from different places in the State including Ferozepur and Rajpura. Intelligence sources of the State Police have inputs that Neeta could himself enter India if those directed to carry out the nefarious designs failed in their task. "Certain militants sitting abroad are desperate to push four Sikh extremists into India to carry out nefarious activities," the advisory said. Meanwhile, police have been sensitized and directed to take necessary preventive and detective measures to avoid any untoward incident, official sources said.
20-Jul-2010
The Director-General of Police in Punjab, P.S. Gill, said that Pakistan's ISI is helping terrorists to penetrate East Punjab. He claimed militants were receiving funds to the tune of Lakhs (100000) from Pakistan, and, had undergone training in the use of RDX, manufacturing of bombs, hand grenades, all kinds of rifles and pistols in Pakistan.
18-Jul-2010
Punjab Government recommends the deletion of names of 46 former Khalistani militants from the Union Government’s list of 'blacklisted' Sikh radicals. The existing blacklist — meant for travel ban and denial of visa — comprises names of 169 Sikhs who were directly or indirectly associated with various pro-Khalistan militant outfits. Names of 46 of them, however, have been cleared by a Punjab Government committee for deletion from the central list.
18-Jul-2010
Punjab Police said that it had arrested four militants of the BKI and recovered weapons and explosives from them. The four include BKI commander Harmohinder Singh, who was the mastermind in the 2007 Ludhiana cinema blast. The other three were his accomplices and they were staying in rented accommodation here for the past few weeks. Police have recovered 3.1 kilograms of RDX, an AK-47 and a revolver from them.
30-Jun-2010
A BKI militant, identified as Sher Singh was arrested from Amritsar District and one AK 47 rifle, three magazines, and 72 live cartridges were recovered from his possession. Singh had earlier spent around six years in jail for his involvement in various cases of bomb blasts in Delhi, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Kaithal (Haryana) and Chandigarh, and a jailbreak in Burail.
22-Jun-2010
The State Special Operation Cell of Intelligence Wing of the Punjab Police with the interrogation of arrested BKI militant Nishan Singh recovered one AK-47 assault rifle, 110 cartridges, one revolver 32 bore and three automatic Chinese pistols. Following Singh’s arrest, an Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) team had visited his village, Daleke, in the Tarn Taran District and recovered a huge cache of imported arms hidden in the farms by Singh. The weapons were sent from Pakistan.