KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
12-Feb-2020
The National Investigating Agency (NIA) special court in Mohali issued Non-Bailable Warrants (NBWs) against two Khalistani terrorists belonging to the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) in a case related to dropping of arms and ammunition in Punjab by drones originating from Pakistan. NBWs were issued against KZF chief Ranjeet Singh Neeta,a resident of R. S. Pura in Jammu, who is based in Pakistan at present and Gurmeet Singh alias Bagga, a resident of Hoshiarpur district in Punjab who is based in Germany now. An NIA spokesperson said that, "During investigation, role of Neeta, Pakistan based chief of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), a proscribed terrorist organisation and Singh, a key operative of KZF based in Hamburg, Germany has been found in the conspiracy of trafficking of illegal arms, ammunition, explosives, communication devices and FICNs into India to further terrorist activities." The duo is wanted for dropping arms and ammunition and fake currency notes in September 2019 at Chola Sahib in Punjab via unmanned aerial vehicles or drones that originated from Pakistan. A case against the two was filed under Sections 489-A, 489-B, 489-C and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Explosive Substances Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Prisoners Act in Amritsar.Nine persons have been arrested in this case till now and the probe is ongoing, the NIA spokesperson said.
12-Feb-2020
The Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Dinkar Gupta expressed the need for modern anti-drone technology to check the menace of drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that have been making drugs and weapons drops in the Punjab region since last year. He said that the state police was in talks with the Indian Air Force (IAF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indian Army and intelligence agencies to counter the drone menace, which, he feared, could lead to the next round of militancy in the state. Punjab Police is concerned about the growing use of technology in a narco-terrorism racket from across the border in Pakistan, with about 40 movements of sophisticated UAVs noticed in the Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Ferozpur and Fazilka districts of Punjab.
12-Feb-2020
According to Indian official sources, since the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) mounted pressure against Pakistan government, terror groups based in Pakistan have been smuggling weapons for their recruits in Jammu and Kashmir via Punjab. It said that since the February 2019 Pulwama suicide attack, dozens of weapons enroute Jammu and Kashmir, have been seized in Punjab. There has also been a rise in the Pakistan-originating Chinese drones dropping weapons and communication devices in Punjab following the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5, 2019.Pakistan-based terror groups have sent at least eight drone sorties, air-dropping 80 kg of weapons in Punjab during the last few months, sources said.
12-Feb-2020
The Special Task Force (STF) arrested three persons, identified as Simarjit Singh alias Simmi, Varinder Kumar alias Vinkal and Rajwant Singh alias Raj and recovered 200 gm of heroin, besides one country-made pistol and two live rounds from them in Ferozepur district.
11-Feb-2020
Police arrested two persons, Balwinder Singh and Balwinder Singh and recovered 24 kg of poppy husk from near Kikarwala Rupa village in Fazilka district.
11-Feb-2020
Police arrested two men, Gurdip Singh and Ajay Kumar along with 10 gm of heroin, a pistol and six live cartridges in Fazilka district of Punjab.
10-Feb-2020
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mohali sent three arrested accused in the drug smuggling case involving the slain Pakistan-based Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) member Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD, to the NIA custody. According to NIA officials, the court sent three accused, Nirmal Singh, Satpal Singh and Hiralal for seven days to the agency’s custody. The case pertains to the arrest of three accused persons with 500 grams of heroin and Rs 1.2 lakh in drug money for which a case was registered in Amritsar. The NIA official said that during investigation, role of Harmeet Singh, whois believed to have been killed in Pakistan, has emerged in running a cross-border narco-terror network through drug smugglers, militant elements and hawala operatives based in Punjab and other states in India.
09-Feb-2020
The latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures shows that the areas under Ludhiana rural police had witnessed third highest recoveries of drugs among police districts and Commissionerate’s in the state in 2018. The Ludhiana police Commissionerate is ranked 9th in the list.As per the NCRB data, Amritsar rural and Jalandhar rural districts were number one and two with 1,179 and 950 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, respectively, followed by Ludhiana rural police district with 859 cases. Ludhiana police Commissionerate reported 495 cases under the NDPS Act in 2018. Analysis of sub-categories revealed Ludhiana Commissionerate was at the sixth spot as far as the cases of possession of drugs for personal consumption was concerned. The city witnessed 439 such cases in that year. Taran Tarn, Sangrur, Ludhiana rural, Kapurthala, and Patiala were at number 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 witnessing 715, 630, 550, 498, and 478 cases, respectively. Ludhiana police Commissionerate had just 56 cases of possession of drugs for trafficking, whereas Amritsar rural witnessed highest such cases at 1,179, Jalandhar rural 715 and Bathinda 545. The number of cases related to NDPS Act in Ludhiana commissionerate was less as compared to the previous year. However, social activists say that the data does not present the actual picture.
09-Feb-2020
The Special Task Force (STF) arrested Punjabi actor Mantej Mann in connection with smuggling, processing and refining of 194 kg heroin recovered from the house of the Shiromani Akali Dal leader Manwar Masih in Amritsar on January 31. STF Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kaushtubh Sharma said that Mantej’s name came up during investigation of already arrested accused in the case following which a team arrested him for further investigation.
08-Feb-2020
The Member of Parliament (MP) from Ludhiana, Ravneet Singh Bittu accused Akal Takht Jathedar Harpreet Singh of “promoting and encouraging killers and hence giving the wrong message to Sikh youths in Punjab that those who will kill will be appreciated and honoured”. He further said that Harpreet Singh should focus on religious affairs not politics, but if he wishes to interfere in politics, then he must fight an election. Ravneet Singh Bittu, the grandson of former chief minister late Beant Singh, was reacting to a video in which Jathedar Harpreet Singh, is purportedly seen delivering a speech at the bhog ceremony of the mother of Paramjit Singh Bheora, who was among those convicted for the assassination of Bittu’s grandfather. In the clip, the Jathedar is also purportedly heard appreciating those who executed the assassination and calling them “veer yoddhey”.The Akal Takht Jathedar is heard saying in the video, “Jis mukhmantri de raaz vich eh sab kuch ho rehasi...uss mukhmantri nu sodheya ehna saadey soor veer yoddheyan ne… (The CM under whose regime all that was happening, that CM was punished by our courageous warriors)”.
06-Feb-2020
The Indian intelligence sources said that Harmeet Singh was ‘eliminated’ by Pakistan’s ISI for having failed to ‘prove his worth’ while being provided ‘protection’ along with other Sikh fugitives in Pakistan. Sources said that many Sikh fugitives in Pakistan were involved in drug trade and were using their connections and negligible support in Punjab for it. “If they fail to do the task given to them by ISI, they meet the same fate as that of Harmeet,” sources added.
06-Feb-2020
In a poster circulated on social media, slain KLF chief Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD’s father Avtar Singh said he came to know about his son’s death through media reports and had appealed to Sikh organisations and individuals to converge in large number for his son’s ‘Antim Ardas’ (Final Prayers).
06-Feb-2020
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court sought a report on the medical treatment being given to Malkit Singh alias Shera, who was arrested by the NIA in connection with the September 5, 2019 Tarn Taran blast case. The court has directed the Amritsar jail superintendent to file the report by March 5, 2020. Meanwhile, NIA also sought permission from the NIA court for procuring mobile data and Facebook records of the accused named in the Tarn Taran blast case. NIA had so far arrested five persons, identified as Malkit Singh alias Shera, Mandeep Singh alias Massa, Amritpal Singh, Chandeep Singh, and Amarjit Singh in the case. NIA sources said that the accused had support of the Sikh For Justice (SFJ) organisation and wanted to revive terrorism in Punjab. NIA had also said two accused, Bikram Singh alias Bicky alias Bikkar Singh and Harpreet Singh alias Happy, died on the spot while Gurjant Singh and Malkit Singh sustained injuries while they were trying to dig out an explosive buried by them in a vacant plot on the outskirts of Pandori Gola village in Tarn Taran District on September 5, 2019.
06-Feb-2020
Police arrested a person, identified as Ajitpal Singh for peddling drugs and recovered 260 gm of heroin from him near Satluj bridge in Phillaur in Jalandhar districton February 6 night.
05-Feb-2020
According to counter-terrorism expert, Ajai Sahni, who serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi, labelling slain Khalistani terrorist Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD as a martyr is an exercise conducted at the behest of Khalistani secessionists in the Sikh diaspora. Ajai Sahni said that a handful of people working at the instructions of ageing Khalistanis, who had left India in the 1990s, were trying to give a Khalistani colour to every incident of this nature."There is a very small minority of individuals of this nature. Their efforts are to revive the Khalistani movement in the country. Overwhelmingly, they are led by people abroad. They manage to mobilize a handful of people here," he added.
05-Feb-2020
The ‘Bhog’ ceremony of Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) leader Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD, who was killed in Pakistan a week ago, was held at Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj in Railway Colony in Amritsar. Hardline Sikh leaders like, former Akal Takht jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode, Damdami Taksal’s spokesperson Sarchand Singh, Jarnail Singh Sakhira, Dal Khalsa leader Kanwarpal Singh, Principal Baljinder Singh, former militant Daljit Singh Bittu and Narayan Singh Chaura attended the event. The leaders glorified the slain militant leader by calling him ‘warrior’ of ‘contemporary Sikh struggle’. They also sought probe into his murder by an independent agency in Pakistan.
05-Feb-2020
Punjab Police arrested three drug peddlers and recovered around 500 grams of heroin after an exchange of fire during a raid conducted at a house that was used as their hideout in Palm Garden in Amritsar district on February 5 night. Amritsar Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Kirpal Singh said that during the raid the accused men, who were staying at a rented accommodation, opened five to six rounds at the police team and the police team also returned fire. The three men who were identified as Gurpreet Singh, Paras and Sajan have been arrested while two others, Ganja Jandiala and Javed managed to escape, he said.
05-Feb-2020
During the ‘Bhog’ ceremony conducted by the prominent Sikh seminary Damdami Taksal in the memory of slain Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) leader Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD, the Damdami Taksal spokesperson Sarchand Singh said that Harmeet Singh achieved ‘martyrdom’ in his struggle, initiated by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, in Pakistan.
04-Feb-2020
According to sources, the Afghan national Armaan Bashar, who was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of Punjab Police on January 31, had been hired by drug smugglers for 50,000 dollars to refine 200 kg of heroin at an illicit unit in Sultanwind in Amritsar. While Bashar is the first such expert from Afghanistan to have been arrested in Punjab, investigators believe that the gang led by Simranjit Singh Sandhu may have hired two more experts from the country earlier and dumped hundreds of kilograms of heroin in the domestic market or abroad.
04-Feb-2020
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) joined the Punjab Police’s anti-drug Special Task Force (STF) to probe the role of Simranjit Singh Sandhu in the racket allegedly involved in the smuggling of heroin to Punjab from Pakistan via sea route. Simranjit Singh Sandhu, who is in the custody of Interpol in Italy currently, has emerged as the prime suspect in the case involving the recovery of 194 kg heroin and chemicals by STF from a house in Sultanwind area on January 31. The STF claimed to have unearthed a heroin supply racket with overseas connections with this recovery. Meanwhile, the ATS team questioned the six accused arrested in the case. Sandhu was arrested recently in Italy on the basis of a Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued by the Interpol on request of the Gujarat ATS. Sandhu was wanted in a drug-trafficking case in which 300 kg heroin was smuggled from Pakistan to Mandvi in Gujarat.
04-Feb-2020
The Special Task Force (STF) arrested one person, identified as Harminder Singh and seized 1.20 kg of heroin from his possession from near Samundgarh Chhanna T point in Sangrur district. The STF team officials said that two accomplices of the arrested accused managed to flee from the spot.
04-Feb-2020
The services of Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Jatinder Singh, who was caught smuggling 50 gm of charas into the Kapurthala Modern Jail on February 4, were terminated on February 5. Though the ASI, posted with Jalandhar rural police, was assigned the duty to take prisoners from jail to court for hearings for the past one year, he claimed that this was the first time he had smuggled in drugs. He also told interrogators that a jail inmate had called up his accomplice to hand over the drugs to him when he was escorting prisoners to a Jalandhar court for a hearing.
03-Feb-2020
The Special National Investigating Agency (NIA) court in Mohali declared alleged Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist, Kulwinderjit Singh alias Khanpuria as a proclaimed offender (PO). Kulwinderjit Singh, who is wanted in multiple cases of terror acts in Punjab, is reportedly in Malaysia. NIA had filed a charge sheet in a terror conspiracy case on November 21, 2019, against four alleged BKI terrorists including Kulwinderjit Singh and NIA had already got a lookout circular issued against him, an officer said.
03-Feb-2020
In its latest tactics to step up the proxy war against India, Pakistan has now stooped to narco-terrorism to cause more damage and harm to India, says experts. According to experts, Pakistan has been vigorously supporting the widespread supply of drugs in the Indian state of Punjab, which will be spoiling an entire generation of youth in the state.“This is a double threat for India as Pakistan is not just working towards 'damaging the youth of Punjab', but is also making millions of rupees that are subsequently used to fund terrorism in Kashmir and other parts of the country”, said an expert.
02-Feb-2020
The Indian intelligence agencies suspect that the killing of Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) leader, Harmeet Singh alias Happy PhD is the fallout of a rivalry between three groups over control on drug money. An official said that, “There is an ongoing rivalry between Pakistan-based Khalistani groups led by Harmeet Singh, Khalistan Zindabad Force’s Ranjit Singh Neeta, and Paramjit Singh Panjwar of the Khalistan Commando Force. Initial reports suggest that drug money has been a major factor.”Harmeet Singh was wanted by various Indian agencies, including the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Punjab Police, in 17 cases.The official also added that the recent spurt in trafficking of Afghan-origin heroin through traditional sea routes via Pakistan had led to generation of huge money for the syndicates that were also being used to push weapons into India for terror activities.