KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
08-Feb-2021
A joint team of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh Police arrested an accomplice, identified as Jagdev Singh alias Jagga, of two Pro-Khalistan terrorists – Paramjit Singh Pamma and Multani Singh from Vikas Nagar area in Lucknow District of Uttar Pradesh. Paramjit is currently in the UK while Multani is in Germany. Both of them are accused of carrying out anti-national activities in Punjab and trying to promote terror and harm peace and religious tolerance. According to the Police, Paramjit and Maltani were allegedly preparing Jagdev Singh to carry out anti-national activities and with the money provided by them, he along with his partner Jagroop Singh bought guns and cartridges from Madhya Pradesh. Punjab Police had already arrested Jagroop on February 7.
08-Feb-2021
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered a packet containing 470-grams of heroin in Tahliwala border outpost in Fazilka District. The packet was recovered from the fields of a farmer, Darshan Singh, across the barbed fencing.
07-Feb-2021
A Pro-Khalistan militant identified as – Gurpinder Singh (37), with alleged links to the banned terror group, Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), was arrested by a joint team of Punjab and Maharashtra Police in Nanded city in Nanded District of Maharashtra. A resident of Gurusar in Muktasar Sahib District in Punjab, Gurupindar along with four other pro-Khalistan militants was active in fundraising and collecting arms from abroad for the movement. He had hatched a plot to assassinate Hindu leaders who opposed the Khalistan movement. An FIR was registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, along with sections of the Indian Arms Act, by Punjab’s special operation cell in Amritsar on December 19, 2020, naming four suspects, three of whom have been arrested while another is in Belgium. “Three of the arrested suspects — Sarabjit Singh alias Kirat, Amandeep Singh alias Bhinder and Gurdeep Singh alias Baghi — are active members of KZF and were conspiring to commit terrorist activities in Punjab. They are in touch with Belgium-based KZF terrorist Jagdish Singh alias Bhoora, who is motivating and facilitating them by arranging funds from different countries, procurement of weapons and asked them to recruit people to carry out terror activities. These suspects have already acquired arms and ammunition and were planning to carry out targeted killings of leaders of Hindu organisations and people who are against the Khalistani ideology, to disturb communal harmony and law and order in the state of Punjab”, states the FIR.
04-Feb-2021
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that India had issued a Mutual Legal Assistance Request to the US for investigation in the case of ‘Referendum 2020’ (secessionist campaign) by the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). As per procedure, the request has been sent directly by the Indian authorities concerned to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), it added.
04-Feb-2021
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches in Amritsar and Gurdaspur Districts of Punjab, in connection with a narco-terror case of Pakistan-based terror group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM). During searches, INR 2 million of drug proceeds, 130 rounds of 9 mm bullets, mobile phones, pen drive, one bunch of polythene bags used for packing heroin, a car, a two-wheeler, documents related to properties and other incriminating documents have been seized from the house of the suspect. An NIA spokesperson said, the searches were conducted at the premises of suspect Manpreet Singh of Amritsar, a close associate of charge-sheeted accused Ranjit Singh in connection with the investigation of HM narco-terror case. The case relates to the arrest of Hilal Ahmad Shergojri, an Over Ground Worker (OGW) of HM and a close associate of Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, the then ‘commander’ of HM who had come to Amritsar to collect funds to further the terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), the official said.
26-Jan-2021
The US-based pro-Khalistani outfit, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), announced a reward of USD 350,000 for unfurling the "Khalistani flag" on the Indian Parliament on February 1, when the Union Budget 2021-2022 will be presented. In a video statement, SFJ chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun hailed the hoisting of the 'Nishan Sahib'—which he referred to as a "Khalistani flag"—during the "siege" of the Red Fort in Delhi on January 26. He announced a reward of USD 350,000 (INR 25 million) for unfurling the "Khalistani flag" at the Parliament on February 1.
23-Jan-2021
The US-based banned Khalistani outfit, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) threatened to stage protests outside Indian missions in the US, UK and Canada on Republic Day (January 26) over Farm Laws. Following this, India’s Foreign Ministry on January 23 said that India has asked host countries to take appropriate action for ensuring the security of the mission premises. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, “we have raised the issue of security of our diplomatic mission with local authorities”.
20-Jan-2021
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered two kilograms of heroin along the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Ferozepur sector of Ferozepur District. BSF recovered 17.60 kilograms heroin so far in January 2021 along the IB in Punjab.
19-Jan-2021
The Border Security Force (BSF) and Police recovered 5.2 kilograms of heroin along with an AK-47 submachine gun, a pistol, an AK magazine with seven cartridges, near the Daoke border outpost on the International Border (IB) in Amritsar District. The contraband and weapons were sneaked into the Indian territory by a Pakistan-based drug peddler Bilal Sandhu of Maniala village there. The Police recently got a tip-off that Sandhu and some contacts in India recently pushed a consignment of contraband and weapons from across the border near the Daoke border outpost. The information was shared with the BSF following which the recovery was made.
15-Jan-2021
The Counter Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Border Security Force (BSF) personnel recovered four kilograms heroin worth INR 200 million in the international market from International Border (IB) in Ferozepur District. The consignment was recovered following the inputs provided by a drug peddler – Malkeet Singh alias Kala (35) who was arrested by the Police on January 10. “During preliminary investigation, it came to the fore that Malkeet had links with Pakistan-based drug smugglers and was in touch with cross-border drug peddlers through the social media. At least, 13 Pakistan mobile numbers were found in his mobile,” Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Bhupinder Singh said.
14-Jan-2021
The Border Security Force (BSF) shot dead an unidentified Pakistani intruder along the International Border (IB) in Amritsar District. The BSF personnel noticed suspicious activity near the border fence and after sensing a threat, troops shot him dead.
14-Jan-2021
The banned US-based secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) announced a reward of USD 2,50,000 for protesting farmers of Punjab for hoisting ‘Khalistan flag’ at India Gate in the national capital on Republic Day. While announcing the reward, SFJ’s chief Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in a video tried to link the farmers' protest with 1984 anti-Sikh riots. “26 January is coming and on the Red Fort, there is an Indian tricolour. Remove the tricolour on 26th of January and replace it with the Khalistan flag,” he said while announcing that SFJ will give USD 2,50,000 to those who will remove the Indian tricolour. Besides this, SFJ also used the bait of giving foreign citizenship to lure the protesters. “The laws of the world are with you. If the Indian Government points a finger at you, you and your families will be brought to the foreign countries under the United Nations laws,” he further said.
13-Jan-2021
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 12 kilograms of heroin, worth INR 600 million in the international market, near India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Amritsar district. “We seized 12 packets of the contraband near the border fence. The area is manned by 88 Bn, BSF, Amritsar sector. A 13-foot-long PVC pipe was also found there. It was probably used to push packets across the border. No arrest has been made so far,” a BSF official said.
10-Jan-2021
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered four packets of heroin weighing two kilograms from IB in Ferozepur sector of Ferozepur District.
09-Jan-2021
Police arrested a drug smuggler and recovered five kilograms of heroin worth INR 250 million in the international market from Indo-Pak International Border (IB) near Hussainiwala in Ferozepur District. The smuggler, identified as Dalbir Singh aliasDallu, was arrested with 250 grams heroin. Later on, based on his disclosure, in a joint operation with Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, five kilograms heroin, one pistol, 2 magazines, 18 live cartridges and Pakistani currency worth INR 1,100 were recovered at the designated place across the fencing near the IB. “During preliminary investigation, it came to the fore that Dalbir had links with Pakistan-based drug smugglers and was in touch with cross-border drug peddlers through the social media,” said a Police official
07-Jan-2021
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted searches at six locations – five in Jammu District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and one in Tarn Taran District of Punjab in connection with the investigation of a narco-terror module case (RC 05/2020/ NIA/JMU) related to seizure of about 61 kilograms of heroin along with arms and ammunitions on September 20, 2020 at International Border (IB) at Arnia in Jammu District. The officials recovered digital devices and other incriminating documents having financial details and accounts numbers during these searches. The searches were conducted at the residences of six accused persons namely – Jasraj Singh, Sham Lal, Bishan Dass, Ajeet Kumar, Gurbaksh Singh and Gurpartap Singh. These accused persons were arrested for hatching a criminal conspiracy for carrying out anti-national and unlawful activities, and to help the terrorist organisations by collecting funds and channelizing the proceeds of drugs for furthering the activities of such terrorist organisations like Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). Gurpratap Singh, r/o Tarn Taran District is the kingpin of this module. In the second week of September 2020, Gurpratap Singh had received 10 kilograms of heroin from Pakistan based handlers through his associates. The consignment in the case was also intended to be received by Gurpratap Singh to fund the activities of BKI in Punjab.
03-Jan-2021
The Punjab Police have decided to recruit specialised de-radicalisation counsellors in the backdrop of radicalisation of youth for pro-Khalistan activities via social media. 30 de-radicalisation counsellors and 82 assistants will be recruited soon with the job to bring back youth into the mainstream after they were allegedly brainwashed by terror agencies, including Pakistan-based Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), said Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta. According to the Police records, nearly 70 terror modules had been busted in the past few years in which more than 300 youth were arrested. Most of them were radicalised for pro-Khalistan activities through social media.
01-Jan-2021
According to Border Security Force (BSF) data, the BSF personnel have recovered 517 kilograms heroin and 43 weapons from along the Indo-Pak International Borders (IB) in Punjab in 2020. The BSF also shot dead eight drug smugglers and intruders in separate encounters in 2020. Additionally, a total of 13 Pakistanis and one Bangladeshi national were also arrested during the year. In a humanitarian gesture, the BSF handed over six Pakistanis to the Pakistan Rangers after they had inadvertently crossed the IB.
31-Dec-2020
An employee of the Halwara Air Force station, identified as Ram Singh, was arrested by Punjab Police for allegedly working for Pakistan’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), from Sudhar area in Ludhiana District. “Ram Singh, an employee of Halwara Air Force station, has been booked and arrested for allegedly working for Pakistan’s ISI, in the Sudhar area of Ludhiana, Punjab. Two of his associates are on the run,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Charanjit Singh Sohal.
31-Dec-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) foiled an infiltration attempt by a group of Pakistani smugglers to infiltrate and push narcotics into the Indian territory by recovering an iron ladder and a contraption with a pole in the Khanpur area of Abohar Sector along the International Border (IB) in Fazilka District.
30-Dec-2020
A joint team of Police and the Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 7.31 kilograms of heroin and three China-made .30 bore pistols from the Metla Border out Post (BoP)in the Dera Baba Nanak sector of Gurdaspur District. The consignment was pushed into the Indian territory by Belgium-based terrorist Jagdish Singh alias Bhura, who has links in Pakistan. During investigation, it was found that drug peddler Ranjit Singh, who is lodged in the Ludhiana jail, played a key role in the smuggling of the consignment.
30-Dec-2020
Security Forces recovered 5 kilograms heroin, worth INR 250 million in the international market, a pistol, two magazines and two live cartridges from across the barbed wire fencing in the area of BoP, Santokh Singh Wala, in Jalalabad subdivision of Fazilka District.
27-Dec-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel recovered around three kilograms of heroin from the Indo-Pak border at Attari sector in Amritsar District. The alert BSF troopers also recovered around 12-feet long plastic pipe near Burj border outpost under Bhindi Saida Police Station limits in the district. The pipe bearing a marking of made in Pakistan was found on the Indian side of the International Border (IB).
24-Dec-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) spotted a Pakistani drone twice within an hour in Chandu Wadala and Rosse Border Outposts (BoPs) in Kalanaur subdivision of Gurdaspur District. BSF Deputy Inspector General (DIG, Gurdaspur sector) Rajesh Sharma said at around 1 am, personnel of the 58th Battalion sighted and subsequently fired upon the drone, forcing it to fly back into Pakistan. An hour later, the security agencies again spotted the drone and opened fire. Sharma informed Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajinder Singh Sohal, following which a joint search operation was launched in 15 villages located near the International Border (IB).
23-Dec-2020
Two Khalistani terrorists, identified as Tejprakashalias Kaka and Akashdeep Singh alias Sonu, working for the US based banned secessionist group - Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), were arrested along with weapons and live cartridges near Karnal in Haryana. According Haryana Police, during interrogation, revealed that they were in touch with a US-based terrorist Gurmeet Singh, who transferred lakhs of rupees in their accounts via MoneyGram. The duo was arrested when they were returning after purchasing the arms. They also revealed that they had planned to attack two Shiv Sena leaders in Punjab named Sudhir Suri and Gursharanmand, under the direction of Gurmeet Singh.