KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
27-May-2020
Police arrested two drug peddlers, identified as Lakhbir Cahand and Gurpreet Singh and recovered six kilograms of opium from their possession near Chak Jandu village Jalandhar district.
27-May-2020
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) recently registered over 20 money-laundering cases in connection with the seizure of drugs by various enforcement agencies in Punjab. The findings may be incorporated in the reports to be shared with key Financial Action Task Force (FATF) member nations to highlight the issue of narco-terrorism involving elements from Pakistan. According to the officials, ED is also initiating a probe into the seizure of 532 kg of heroin, worth about Rs 2,700 crore in the international market, and 52 kg of a mixed narcotic substance by the Customs Department at the Integrated Check Post on the Wagah-Attari border on June 29, 2019.
26-May-2020
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) observed the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev at Gurdwara Sri Ramsar Sahib in Amritsar on May 26 even as Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) will observe the historical day on June 16. The difference in dates is because PSGPC follows the Pal Singh Purewal-authored Nankashahi Calendar, while the SGPC follows the same calendar, but with amendments.
26-May-2020
The radical group, Dal Khalsa decided to undertake an annual ‘Genocide Remembrance Parade’ on June 5 in Amritsar to mark the 36th anniversary of Operation Blue Star. Dal Khalsa has been regularly observing this day by undertaking a march on June 5 and giving the call for Amritsar bandh on June 6, for the past ten years. However, Covid-19 has made the Dal Khalsa put its call for a shutdown on hold. The meeting of party office bearers under the presidentship of Harpal Singh Cheema was convened to chalk out a protest programme to observe ‘Ghallughara week’. At a press conference, party spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said the final decision would be taken on June 1 in regard to the call for the Amritsar bandh.
26-May-2020
The Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) condemned the vandalism of Guru Arjan Dev Ji Gurudwara in Derby, UK, on May 25 a day before the martyrdom day of the Guru. Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Hapreet Singh demanded the UK Government to ensure the safety of Gurudwaras and Sikh citizens.
24-May-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) troops recovered 2 kg heroin from near the Shameke border outpost in Ferozepur sector in Ferozepur district. Sources said that the consignment was being smuggled through the water channel with help of two plastic bottles concealed in water hyacinth.
23-May-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered more than six kg heroin from Abohar and Ferozepur sectors of Ferozepur district, near the international border in Punjab. According to BSF, the troops recovered 5.56 kg heroin from near the border in Abohar. Similarly, the security forces recovered one kg heroin from the border in Ferozepur sector.
23-May-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 1 kg heroin which was concealed in a 1.5 litre plastic bottle from Ferozepur sector in Ferozepur district.
22-May-2020
The Barnala police recovered 8.2 kg heroin from Bareke border out post (BOP) across the fence near the Pakistan border in Ferozepur district. The police with support from Border Security Force (BSF) also recovered 15 live cartridges appeared to be manufactured in Pakistan. The consignment was put in various packets which has been recovered on a specific tip off provided by a woman already arrested with a small quantity of heroine few days ago.
22-May-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) thwarted a fresh attempt of the Pakistani smugglers to push drugs and ammunition in to the Indian Territory and seized 1.9 kg heroin, 280-gram opium besides arms and ammunition including one pistol of 9mm calibre, one magazine and five live cartridges near the border at Ferozepur sector of Ferozepur district.
21-May-2020
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) told the special court in Mohali that the alleged kingpin in the 532 kg heroin haul case, Ranjeet Singh Rana alias Cheeta, had hatched a ‘larger conspiracy’ with ramifications for the country’s national security. Further, the court sent Rana and his brother, Gagandeep Singh alias Gagan, to police remand till May 29. Rana, who has links with Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and was involved in terror funding, had smuggled heroin and other drugs from Pakistan concealed in rock salt consignments through the integrated check-post (ICP) at the Attari border, 30 km from Amritsar.
21-May-2020
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal stated that gold and other sacred valuables belonging to the Sikh shrines ‘are a collective treasure of the Sikh community’. “There is no question of any individual or organisation even contemplating in the direction of donating even the smallest part of this treasure for any cause,” he said in a statement, referring to the controversy surrounding DSGMC chief Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s ‘inadvertent suggestion’ with regard to a proposal for donations of gold by shrines of various religious communities as a help in the fight against Covid-19.
21-May-2020
The Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) arrested two persons, identified as Rinku Singh and Harbhej Singh and recovered 252 kg poppy husk and 4 kg opium from them during the search of their truck at a naka on the Badrukhan-Ubhawal road in Sangrur district.
20-May-2020
Convicted Al Qaeda terrorist Mohammed Ibrahim Zubair, found guilty of raising funds for the terrorist organisation in the United States, has been deported to India after completing his sentence. Mohammad Ibrahim Zubair, who hailed from Hyderabad, is one among the 165 people who arrived at Amritsar airport on May 20 after being deported from the United States due to unprecedented health crisis.
19-May-2020
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) demanded an independent inquiry into the ‘drug trade’ across Punjab during the past two months of curfew.
18-May-2020
During the interrogation of the arrested Ranjit Singh Rana alias Cheeta, the kingpin in the 532-kg heroin seizure case, and his aides by the police, it was revealed that they had transferred Rs 6 crore drug money to the terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) during the past five years. According to officials, Cheeta and his accomplices had been in direct link with Pakistan’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for the smuggling of heroin from across the border, and for transferring the drug money to the terror outfit. They said the gang members had cleared five drug consignments through Attari-Wagah border before the seizure of 532-kg heroin. The officials said the police have also identified around 10 more members of the gang which will be nabbed soon. Some of them are from Tarn Taran, Ferozepur and Jalandhar districts, they added. Cheeta was arrested on May 9 by Punjab Police from Begi village in Sirsa district of Haryana with his brother Gagandeep Singh alias Bhola.
18-May-2020
Former Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini appeared before the Special Investigation Teams (SIT) in a case registered against him and other policemen regarding the abduction and disappearance of Balwant Singh Multani at Mataur police station. Earlier, he was summoned by the SIT after a Mohali court on May 11 granted him anticipatory bail.
18-May-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered four packets of containing 1.980 kg of heroin from Amritsar sector in Amritsar district. According to BSF, the vigilant troops of the BSF heard some loud noises of miscreants near the post and challenged them following which, the miscreants fled towards Pakistan Territory. During search of the area, four packets heroin were recovered.
16-May-2020
Security Force arrested an absconding drug-peddler, identified as Hapreet Singh alias Sonu Baba and confiscated 280 gm of heroin from him at a checkpoint on the Jhabal road in Amritsar district. He was wanted in connection with seizure of 1 kg heroin on March 18, 2020.
16-May-2020
Punjab Police arrested two persons along with around 20,000 narcotic pills near Mandir village in Moga district.
16-May-2020
Ludhiana City Police arrested one person, Sukhwinder Singh alias Sonu along with .315 bore country made pistol, 10-gram heroin and two bullets from Ladhowal in Ludhiana district. According to police, the accused was injured in police firing after he allegedly jumped at least six checkpoints.
14-May-2020
The Security Forces (SFs), in a joint operation, recovered 7.70 kg heroin worth of Rs 39 crore from near border outpost DT Mall along the Indo-Pakistan border in Ferozepur district.
14-May-2020
The chief of Special Task Force (STF), Harpreet Singh Sidhu said that strictness in Punjab has forced the drug peddlers to change the smuggling routes. He said 180 foreign nationals had been arrested in 147 cases registered over three years. Of them, 61 were arrested in 2017, 81 in 2018, 37 in 2019 and one this year. He said the arrests indicated that Delhi had become a major centre from where foreign nationals had been supplying drugs to Punjab. He said since the inception of STF in April 2017, law enforcement agencies had recovered 1,376 kg of heroin, 1,515 kg of opium, 1,24,728 kg of poppy husk, 6,053 kg of ganja and 2,74,33,119 pills/capsules along with crores of rupees of drug money. He stated that the recovery of 464 kg of heroin in 2019 was the highest as compared to the last five years. The STF chief also said owing to enhanced vigil, the smugglers exploited new sea, air and land routes many of which were under the garb of legal trade and commerce.
14-May-2020
According to report, the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) is plotting to revive terrorism in Punjab by sitting in Lahore on the behest of Pakistan’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The report said that the slain Khalistani leader Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD, had made Ranjit Singh Cheetah a hyperlink between terrorist organizations in Kashmir and sleeper cells in Punjab. Happy PhD was killed by unidentified assailants within the final week of January on the behest of the ISI after establishing a nexus between the militant organizations of Kashmir and the sleepers of Punjab, the report said. According to sources, the ISI killed Happy PhD due to the battle between the sleeper cells of Punjab and the connection established between terrorist organizations of Kashmir. The drug cash from smuggling heroin from Pakistan used to achieve the terrorist organizations of Kashmir by means of Ranjit Singh Cheetah. The Hizbul Mujahideen militants had been in touch with the cheetah. From time to time, Cheetah used to make use of sleeper cells to ship drug cash to Hizbul terrorists.
13-May-2020
The district police arrested one woman, identified as Balbir Kaur along with 55 grams of heroin from Ferozepur district which was for the earlier consignment smuggled from Pakistan.