KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
15-Mar-2014
The Delhi Police in its charge sheet filed against alleged LeT operative Abdul Karim Tunda said that a nexus has been surfaced between Dawood Ibrahim and banned militant groups like LeT, IM and Babbar Khalsa International.
11-Mar-2014
BSF personnel seized a cache of arms and ammunition in the Amritsar sector of Punjab along with 41 kg of heroin worth an estimated INR 2.05 billion. The consignment was being allegedly smuggled into India from Pakistan in two attempts, sources said. The first incident happened near the Rattan Khurd Border Outpost, where 40 packets of heroin, a pistol, three pistol magazines, and a mobile phone and charger of Pakistani make along with 18 rounds of ammunition were recovered. In the second incident, the BSF party picked up a consignment in the Daoke Border Post area in the same sector which was found to be a packet of the same contraband, the officer added.
24-Feb-2014
An Army trooper, Sepoy Harmeet Singh, posted in the 73 Armoured units at Hisar (Haryana) cantonment was sent to judicial custody following his arrest on February 20 for allegedly transporting illegal weapons to KLF militants.
11-Feb-2014
Custom officials in Amritsar recovered 34 live cartridges along with 12.8 kilograms of heroin and 150-gram opium concealed in the hose pipe of a goods train that was about to leave for Pakistan.
04-Feb-2014
A joint note prepared by UMHA and Punjab Police has revealed that over 30 Khalistani militants are staying in the UK. The note, dated September 30, 2013, said that Jagtar Singh Tara, whose terror group KTF had claimed responsibility for RDX explosives recovered from a car in Ambala in October 2011, that was meant to target 1984 riot-tainted Sajjan Kumar, is the new face of Sikh extremists. "There has been a cleavage and parting of ways between BKI chief Wadhwa Singh and Jagtar Singh Tara, who is heading KTF. In the UK and also in countries like Germany, the BKI sympathizers and supporters have started gravitating towards Tara at the cost of Wadhwa Singh," the note added. The note points out those Khalistan sympathizers, with the support of ISI, are frequently visiting Pakistan to meet Tara, who has based himself near Nankana Sahib Gurdwara and BKI chief Wadhwa Singh is now losing his sway in Europe and the UK.
03-Feb-2014
Khalistani terror groups have now found a new ally in JeM ‘chief’ Maulana Masood Azhar to foment trouble in India and to keep alive their demand for separate statehood. Azhar is leading a campaign along with Khalistanis to target senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, according to an Intelligence Bureau (IB) alert. According to a UMHA secret document, dated October 14, 2013 states that "Pakistan spy agency ISI recently held a meeting of Khalistan militant outfits and asked them to chart a broad outline of their plan". The terror groups that participated in the meeting included BKI ‘chief’ Wadhwa Singh, KZF head Ranjit Singh Neeta, KCF ‘chief’ Paramjit Singh Panjwa, KTF ‘chief’ Jagtar Singh Tara, ISYF ‘chief’ Lakhbir Singh Rode and KLF ‘chief’ Harminder Singh Mintu.
02-Feb-2014
Several pro-Khalistan terror outfits are plotting to attack Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal, Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, and state DGP Sumedh Singh Saini, according to eight terror alerts that were issued by the IB in 2013. The alerts mention that the terror outfits have the "military and financial" support of Pakistan's spy agency, ISI. The most recent alert, dated December 3, 2013, from the office of the UMHA reports the terror outfit KLF had been assigned the task to eliminate Saini. "The ammunition, including a suicide jacket, has been pushed into the Indian territory via Rajasthan border and has reached Chandigarh” the alert said.
21-Jan-2014
BSF troops deployed in the area of Border Out Post (BOP) Naushera Dhalla in Amritsar shot dead three Pakistani smugglers and recovered 20-kilogram narcotics and ammunition. In another incident in the Ferozpur sector, BSF recovered 16-kilogram heroin and ammunition during the search operation that followed the gun battle. BSF had recovered 2 Pistols, 3 Magazines 17 rounds of ammunition and 1 Pak mobile phone with Pak SIM card besides 36 packets of heroin in Amritsar and Ferozpur sectors.
19-Jan-2014
BSF personnel seized one pistol, one magazine, seven rounds, one country-made pistol, a mobile phone, and a Pakistan SIM card along with 17 kilograms of heroin valued INR 850 million after an encounter with Pakistani smugglers on the Indo-Pak border in Punjab's Amritsar district.
17-Jan-2014
The Sikh militant Jagtar Singh Tara, killer of former Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Beant Singh and chief of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) who was extradited from Thailand on January 16, was remanded in five days’ Police custody by a court in Patiala (Punjab) in connection with the murder of Rulda Singh, the chief of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat. Tara was brought by a team of Punjab Police after being extradited from Bangkok. Tara had escaped from jail along with Jagtar Singh Hawara, Paramjit Singh Bheora, and Devi Singh. Hawara and Bheora were later arrested, but Tara and Devi Singh reportedly fled to Pakistan. According to Thailand authorities, Tara entered Thailand as Gurmeet Singh on a Pakistan passport in October and was arrested in the Eastern Province of Chon Buri living in the home of a Pakistani national who has also been taken into custody.
16-Jan-2014
BSF and Ferozepur Police have seized one kg heroin, a pistol and cartridges near the Border Out Post (BOP) of Dona Telu Mal, close to the IB in Ferozepur Sector of same District.
14-Jan-2014
According to BSF data, there has been an increase in narcotics smuggling, especially heroin in International Border in Punjab sharing with Pakistan. In 2012, 289 kgs of heroin were seized, while in 2013, 322 kgs were seized. As far as FICN is concerned, the seizure in 2013 was around INR 5.2 million, while in 2012 it stood at INR 4.62 million. Along with those 312 rounds of ammunition has been seized in 2013 in comparison to 264 in 2012. A senior BSF official said Pakistani couriers easily develop relations with farmers and lure them with a huge commission for supplying the consignment. The BSF officials maintained that Pakistani mobile phone sim cards also help farmers in safely communicating with the Pakistani smugglers.
01-Jan-2014
Narcotic smuggling has increased across the India-Pakistan frontier with the BSF recorded its highest seizure of drugs in recent years, netting over 322 kilograms of heroin in 2013 that would be worth over INR 16.10 billion in the international market.
21-Dec-2013
Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal-led Government ordered the release of militant Lal Singh from the Nabha jail in Patiala District on a 45-day parole, a day after ex-CM Caption Amarinder Singh and the family of late Punjab CM Beant Singh endorsed fasting radical Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa's demand for freeing six Sikh prisoners lodged in various jails across the state. Lal Singh arrested under TADA in Gujarat in 1992 and convicted for transportation of weapons from Pakistan to India, was serving a life-imprisonment sentence for 21 years. He was transferred to Nabha Jail in 1997 as he and his family members had their permanent home in Punjab.
19-Dec-2013
A 39-year-old Indian-American, Balwinder Singh alias Jhajj alias Happy alias Possi, who received asylum in the US, was arrested by the FBI on charges of providing material support to Sikh separatist groups BKI and KZF planning militant attacks in India.
07-Dec-2013
An investigation by Punjab Police into the case of Dev Behl alleged drug cartel kingpin revealed that he was once an associate of Dawood Ibrahim and his brother Anees and was involved in gold smuggling racket being operated by them in the 1980s.
01-Oct-2013
Police arrested an ISI agent, Harjinder Singh, an ex-serviceman, near Havelian village in Amritsar District. Police seized two Pakistani SIM cards from his possession and a diary containing information on sensitive installations. They also arrested three cross-border smugglers, Harwant Singh, Gurdev Singh, and Gurdit Singh, along with Harjinder from the same location. Police also seized a pistol and six .32 bore cartridges, 250g opium and a 0.5kg intoxicant powder from their possession.
15-Sep-2013
Punjab Police busted a sleeper cell of banned terror outfit KLF that had several Shiv Sena leaders on its radar, arresting three militants, identified as Sukhjinder Singh, Narinder Pal and Surinder Singh in Gurdaspur District. An AK-47 rifle with a magazine and 20 cartridges, one 0.38 bore US-made revolver with 5 cartridges and a Brazil-made 0.45 bore Taurus pistol with three cartridges were recovered from them.
12-Sep-2013
BSF foiled an attempt of armed Pakistani smugglers to smuggle arms, ammunition, and heroin in India from IB with Pakistan in Ferozepur Sector of Ferozepur District, Punjab. When challenged by BSF, Pakistani smugglers fired at BSF party that was retaliated and the smugglers flee leaving behind arms, ammunition, and heroin. BSF recovered 13kg of heroin valued INR 650 million in the international market, one pistol super gold 30 bores, two plastic grenades marked ARGES SPL HG 14/97, two pistol magazines and 50 rounds.
05-Sep-2013
At least 10 top Sikh militants, holed up in Pakistan for many years, are under pressure from Pakistan’s intelligence agencies to revive Sikh militancy in India, Indian intelligence sources claimed. "Pakistan is so desperate to reactivate the militant leaders that it has told them to either create turmoil in India - or quit Pakistani territory for good," said an unnamed senior security official. Security officials say the list of 10 names have been shared with several Police forces, including those in Delhi and Punjab.
29-Aug-2013
According to Delhi Police, arrested LeT operative Abdul Karim Tunda had planted a bomb in Amritsar (Punjab) in 2009 on the direction of BKI operatives.
26-Aug-2013
After the confession of arrested LeT operative, Abdul Karim Tunda about BKI planning terror strikes in India, Punjab police is set to place an order for 3,350 AK-47 assault rifles. "However, we felt that the requirement is not for the sophisticated weapons anymore but for the power that simply shoots the target dead with sheer raw power…We have now gone back to the original plan of 1990s when there only AK-47s" an official said.
21-Aug-2013
Punjab Police questioned LeT operative Abdul Karim Tunda over his links with top leaders of Sikh separatist outfit BKI and his role on December 31, 2009 case relating to recovery of 10kg of RDX in Amritsar. Police also said Tunda had met top BKI militants Ratandeep and Wadhwa Singh Babbar on several occasions and his network was constantly used to carry out BKI operations.
14-Aug-2013
KLF militant Devinderpal Singh Bhullar’s plea seeking a review of its verdict refusing to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment on the ground of delay in deciding his mercy plea by the government has been dismissed by the Supreme Court. A bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi refused to review its April 12, 2013, verdict by which it had rejected his plea for commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment. Bhullar was convicted and awarded death penalty for triggering a bomb blast here in September 1993, killing nine people and injuring 25, including then Youth Congress president MS Bitta. The Supreme Court had on March 26, 2002, dismissed Bhullar's appeal against the death sentence awarded by a trial court in August 2001 and endorsed by the Delhi High Court in 2002. He had filed a review petition which was also rejected on December 17, 2002. Bhullar had then moved a curative petition which too had been rejected by the apex court on March 12, 2003. Bhullar, meanwhile, had filed a mercy petition before the President on January 14, 2003. The President, after a lapse of over eight years, dismissed his mercy plea on May 25, 2011. Citing his delay, he had again moved to the Supreme Court for commutation of the death sentence but his plea was rejected.
19-Jul-2013
The Supreme Court sought a response from the CBI on a petition moved by Babbar Khalsa militant Jagtar Singh Hawara, the mastermind in the killing of Punjab CM Beant Singh on August 31, 1995, challenging his conviction and life imprisonment. A bench comprising justices B.S. Chauhan and S.A. Bobde issued a notice to the agency on the appeal filed by Hawara against the October 12, 2010 judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The High Court had commuted the death penalty of Hawara and sentenced him to life imprisonment till death. However, the CBI on December 5, 2011, had moved the apex court seeking the death penalty for him saying the offense falls under the category of 'rarest of rare' cases.