KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
05-Feb-2023
The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) wing of the Punjab Police arrested two close associates of the United States (US)-based gangster Amritpal Singh, identified as Sandeep Singh alias Sipa and Avtar Singh alias Manu in Gurdaspur district. According to police, they have also recovered some weapons, apparently smuggled from across the border. However, they didn’t disclose the quantity and the specifications of the recovered weapons. Amritpal Singh, who has been working in collusion with Canada-based gangster-turned terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, and the two arrested accused have been booked under Section 25 of the Arms Act, and Sections 120 and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the SSOC’s Amritsar police station on February 4. According to the First Information Report (FIR), “Amritpal Singh of Bholath town in Kapurthala district, who is presently living in the USA, wants to disrupt the Punjab state’s peace by unleashing targeted killings and terror activities with the help of his associates sitting in various jail.”
05-Feb-2023
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on February 5 said it has recently carried out search operations in 10 different places in Tarn Taran district of Punjab in connection with the recovery of arms and drugs cases. According to an official, during the course of the search, various incriminating evidence, drugs and arms and ammunition were recovered and seized relating to numerous immovable properties worth crores of rupees in the names of the accused persons, members of their family and their associates. The recoveries include heroin of 2.2 kg, suspected contraband material weighing over 13 kg, 2 rifles and 3 pistols along with some cartridges.
04-Feb-2023
Border Security Force (BSF), on February 4, recovered 2.256 kg heroin from a field close to the village of Ghurmi in Fazilka district. According to the sources, the troop found three packages of drugs (2.256 kg of heroin) wrapped in white polythene during the search.
04-Feb-2023
According to report, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval would meet with his United Kingdom (UK) counterpart Tim Barrow in London for the annual strategic dialogue. He is expected to express India's grave concerns about the UK purposefully turning a blind eye to the rise in Sikh radicalization and anti-Indian sentiments in the nation, which are supported by Pakistani Muslims. The UK government has not done anything to block the funding of so-called Khalistan terrorism through radical gurudwaras in Britain in the name of imagined crimes against the community in India, despite India addressing the subject of Sikh separatism in Britain at the highest intelligence levels. The Indian government believes that the UK is using radicals as a leverage point against India and attempting to use violence in the name of freedom of speech.
04-Feb-2023
Police arrested two persons, identified as Harmeet Singh alias Mitta and Amritpal Singh along with nine pistols in Bathinda. Police said they have connection with the district's supply of weapons and ammunition.
03-Feb-2023
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on February 3 conducted searches in a money laundering case linked to a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) and recovered 2.2 kg of heroin and other contraband items weighing about 14 kg of narcotics in Tarn Taran district. Along with two rifles, three pistols, and live ammunition, the ED also found property paperwork on the suspects' properties. ED conducted searches at 10 locations in the Tarn Taran district villages of Sheron, Naushera Pannuan, and Bugha.
03-Feb-2023
Delhi Police arrested two gangsters of Lawrence Bishnoi group, identified as Sandeep and Jatin after a brief encounter at Rohini in New Delhi. According to reports, Jatin is a native of Baba Haridas Nagar in New Delhi and Sandeep is from the Haryana’s Jhajjar.
03-Feb-2023
Border Security Force (BSF) shot down a Pakistani drone purported to be carrying 5 kilos of heroin close to Kakkar village in the Amritsar sector in Amritsar district. The drug packet was secured with a piece of yellow adhesive tape. According to an officer, BSF forces heard a buzzing sound about 2.30 am as a flying object entered Indian borders from Pakistan close to Kakkar village. The drone was shot down by BSF soldiers, who then roped off the whole area.
03-Feb-2023
Punjab's Chief Minister (CM) Bhagwant Mann on February 3 asked Deputy Commissioners of Police and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSPs) to quicken the three-pronged strategy of "Enforcement, de-addiction, and prevention" in order to make Punjab a drug-free state. In addition, the CM requested that authorities ensure that the preventive detention provisions of the PITNDPS Act, 1988, were effectively carried out. He also urged that authorities conduct thorough investigations into each illicit drug recovery in order to identify the forward and backward linkages in the supply chain.
03-Feb-2023
On February 3, the Punjab Police carried out a special cordon and search operation at the suspected hideouts of people linked to the gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar. During the daylong operation, which was carried out by at least 200 police teams with approximately 2,000 personnel, more than 1,490 suspected hideouts of anti-social groups associated to Bishnoi and Canada-based Brar were raided, according to Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav. Additionally, simultaneous raids were carried out at residences and other locations connected to these people in all the districts, collecting data from electronic devices that would be subjected to a forensic examination.
03-Feb-2023
Ludhiana police crime wing arrested a college student, identified as Harshvir Singh alias Harsh (21) on charges of sheltering a close associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in Ludhiana. The suspect, a BA candidate at GGN Khalsa College in Ghumar Mandi, confessed that Ravi has given him between INR 15 and INR 20 lakh so far.
02-Feb-2023
India on February 2 condemned recent vandalism in Australia and demanded that the Australian government make sure that its land was not being used for anything that threatened "our security, integrity, and national interest." Earlier, Indian citizens who were protesting against a purported "Khalistan referendum" that the banned Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) organized in Melbourne over the weekend were attacked by Khalistani activists. India had already complained to Australian authorities about the incidents. “We strongly condemn such attacks by extremist elements and we urge local authorities to investigate and punish the perpetrators. We have been repeatedly taking up with the Australian authorities our concerns about actions by such elements, including those that are proscribed terrorist organisations,” External Affair Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. “We conveyed our firm rejection of the so-called Khalistan referendum and politically motivated exercises by extremist elements,” he added.
02-Feb-2023
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit on February 2 asked sarpanches of border villages to write directly to him about those involved in drug smuggling while directing the state police authorities to thwart efforts being made to revive Khalistan movement in Punjab. The governor who is on a two-day visit to border districts of Punjab, while addressing a gathering of village heads at MR Government College in Fazilka, said that easy availability of drugs is posing a serious threat as even young adults are getting addicted.
02-Feb-2023
The pro-Khalistani outfit, Dal Khalsa accused the Indian army ex-general K S Brar of killings of hundreds of innocent pilgrims and bringing the edifice of the Akal Takhat to rubble with the help of battle tanks. The Dal Khalsa termed him a sinner and a war criminal who has gone senile. Dal Khalsa disputes Brar's assertions that Sikh warriors detained Sikh Sangat at gunpoint in order to utilize them as "human shields." It is clear from the time of his interview with the government-backed news organization ANI that a malicious plan was behind it, a statement said.
02-Feb-2023
According to reports, Canada’s Foreign Minister Melanie Joly will visit India next week for bilateral meetings. While the official schedule has yet to be released, she is expected to be in India on February 6 and 7, senior Canadian and Indian officials confirmed. She will hold a bilateral with India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar, among other engagements during the trip.
01-Feb-2023
Punjab governor Banwarilal Purohit on February 1 called drug menace a major concern for the state, saying whenever he goes to villages, people say drugs are available like grocery items at general stores. The governor, who is on a two-day tour of Punjab’s border villages, said: “It is a matter of worry. It is not the question of adults only. Drugs have entered schools and children are getting addicted. Parents are feeling helpless. Some children get addicted to the extent that they start stealing in their homes and we are getting several complaints in this regard. They get trapped in clutches of gangs who are dominating,” Purohit said in Pathankot.
01-Feb-2023
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered three packets of heroin weighing about 2.622 kg, along with a blinking device, from a wheat field near Mumbeki village in Fazilka district. According to official sources, the BSF personnel heard a buzzing sound and saw a blinking red light of drone entering from the Pakistan side into the Indian territory area of the Mumbeki border outpost during the wee hours.
01-Feb-2023
Patiala police arrested an associate of gangster Kanwar Randeep Singh alias SK Kharoud, identified as Pawan Kumar from the Patiala-Sangrur Road in Patiala on February 1. According to police, Pawan Kumar suffered a bullet injury on his leg during cross-firing with the police and was admitted to a hospital.
01-Feb-2023
According to reports, counter intelligence has busted a drugs module, which involved a jail warden, who indulged into smuggling of drugs at central jail, in Ferozepur. Four accused have been held in connection with the case.
31-Jan-2023
Pro-Khalistan organisation Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh on January 31 termed that Lieutenant General (retired) K S Brar as insane and a liar for his recent interview. The Dal Khalsa leader said the timing of his interview with a government aided news agency leaves no one in doubt of the mala fide intention behind it. “The (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi dispensation has played a dirty game and rubbed the festering wounds of the Sikhs,” he added.
31-Jan-2023
A Mohali court on January 31 sent gangster Jagdip Singh, alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, to four-day custody of the Punjab Police State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) in a terror-funding case.
30-Jan-2023
The Inspector General (IG) (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill said on January 30 that Punjab Police have arrested 257 drug smugglers after registering 198 first information reports (FIRs), including 19 commercial, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act across the state in the last week. The IG said police have also recovered 16.36 kg heroin, 6.70 kg opium, 1.94 quintal of poppy husk, and 78918 tablets/capsules/injections/vials of pharma opioids besides recovering Rs 11.53 lakh drug money from their possession.
30-Jan-2023
According to reports, the pro-Khalistani group Dal Khalsa's Twitter account was withheld after a legal demand was made for the same by the Government of India against the separatist faction. The group, which is being led by Kanwar Pal Singh Sandhu, has the same agenda of seeking secession of Punjab from India and establishing a new country Khalistan. The United Kingdom (UK)-based group is infamous for posting hate content on Twitter, which had a little over 1,200 followers, to radicalise the Sikh community and raise demands for Khalistan. Notably, this was the only active account on Twitter of the pro-Khalistan separatists who were using the platform to peddle their agenda and radicalise the Sikhs.
30-Jan-2023
Lieutenant General (retired) Kuldeep Singh Brar, who played a key role in the Indian Army’s Operation Blue Star, said that the Khalistani movement is resurging in Punjab and neighbouring Pakistan has been supporting it. Lt Gen Brar was also the commanding officer of Operation Blue Star and remains on the hitlist of Khalistani terrorists. He survived an attempt on his life 10 years ago in London. “Things were very bad in Punjab in the 1980s. There was no law and order at all. The police had become a defunct force. There was a saint who arose from a village. He had such a charismatic personality that everyone accepted him like an 11th Guru called Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He lived in a village called Rode but he went around giving his sermons. And at that stage slowly and steadily the state of Punjab started crumbling and Bhindranwale was an all-powerful man. There were murders, smuggling, and banks being looted,” said Lt Gen Brar.
30-Jan-2023
According to reports, days after Jagraon man Paramjit Singh (45) was shot dead by two assailants who barged into his house at Bardeke village on January 4 and later Canada-based gangster-turned-Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) terrorist Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla took responsibility of the murder in a purported Facebook post, the Ludhiana rural police late on January 29 arrested one of the two shooters and recovered a weapon from him in Ludhiana. Police said that Abhinav Singh alias Abhi, was arrested and a 32 bore pistol and four cartridges were recovered following his interrogation. Wanted gangster Arsh Dalla of Moga, believed to be hiding in Canada, in a purported Facebook post had claimed the responsibility of the murder and said that he took the revenge of his ‘younger brother’ Dilpreet Dhaliwal’s death who had “died by suicide” after Paramjit had “harassed him”. Jagraon Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Satinder Singh Virk said that a total of 14 accused were booked in the case, including Arsh Dalla, of which 10 have been arrested. “Those who are yet to be arrested include Arsh Dalla, two other shooters who executed the crime and one accused who is currently in Australia. Abhinav was one of the three shooters who opened fire as seen in the CCTV footage. He executed this targeted killing on Dalla’s orders,” DSP Virk said. He added, “A total of three shooters had arrived on the spot, two of them had barged inside and opened fire while one was driving the vehicle. We have added UAPA sections to the earlier FIR which is applicable on Dalla and three shooters for targeted killing.”