KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
26-Jan-2020
The Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Dinkar Gupta said that Punjab is the safest state in the country but it being a border state, the police have to remain ever vigilant. He also said that under the Police Forces Modernization scheme, construction of new buildings of existing 95 police stations is underway in Punjab and for this purpose a loan of Rs 150 crore has also been availed from HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited). The DGP also added that to curb ‘the glorification of arms and drugs culture in songs’, police would hold meetings with the singers and take appropriate action against the offenders.
26-Jan-2020
The websites of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) was suspected to be hacked by a group called ‘Dalit Hacker’. The group said that it celebrated India's Republic Day by hacking the website.
25-Jan-2020
A local court in Ludhiana sentenced a drug peddler, identified as Paramjit Singh to 12 years rigorous imprisonment after he was found in possession of 8 kg opium. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.2 lakh on the convict.
25-Jan-2020
The Canadian High Commissioner to India Nadir Patel, when asked about the pro-Khalistan activities in Canada in an interview, said that, “If there are any laws that are being broken, we will act on those. But Canada does not support the creation of another state or the separation or break-up of India. You can take that in the context of that topic [pro-Khalistan] or any other separatist movement. We very much respect Canada’s charter of rights that provides for freedom of expression. But if these freedoms are impeded upon, we will act on that right away.”
25-Jan-2020
The Punjab bandh (general shutdown strike) called by the radical Sikh outfits, Dal Khalsa and SAD (Amritsar) against the CAA and the NRC evoked lukewarm response in most parts of the state barring Amritsar. According to reports, markets and commercial establishments remained opened in most parts of the state as protesters at a few places faced opposition from shopkeepers for trying to forcibly down the shutters of their shops. The officials said that protest remained peaceful in the state.
24-Jan-2020
Two persons out of three, who were named in the FIR registered at Sriganganagar under the NDPS Act on December 13, 2019 were arrested in Fazilka district of Punjab. The accused persons, identified as Gurpreet Singh Monu and Gurjinder Singh Sonu were arrested in connection with recovery of 64 kg of poppy husk from Netewala-Kaluwala bypass on December 13.
23-Jan-2020
The Special Task Force (STF) of Ludhiana Police arrested four drug smugglers and recovered 2.20 kg of heroin from their possession in Ludhiana. The arrestees were identified as Jagdev Singh Jaggi (32), Parminder Singh Minna (30), Sonu Ghalot (29) and Harpreet Singh (24).
23-Jan-2020
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) supported the demand of Sikh bodies for removal of folk dancers’ statues installed by the previous SAD-BJP government on Heritage Street in Amritsar. The SGPC decision came after a meeting of a four-member committee constituted by the Akal Takht to resolve the issue. SGPC senior vice-president Rajinder Singh Mehta, one of the members of the committee, said that they respect the sentiments of the Sikh community on this issue. He said the administration should take decision on the statues at the earliest, but did not say what kind of decision the committee wants.
23-Jan-2020
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh urged Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to ensure the safety of a Sikh leader Radesh Singh Tony who has alleged persecution by fundamentalists in that country.
22-Jan-2020
The Akal Takht acting Jathedar, Giani Harpreet Singh constituted a three-member committee to resolve the row concerning demand to remove statues of folk dancers on the Heritage Street.
22-Jan-2020
Police arrested a woman drug peddler, identified as Neelam and recovered 50 gm of heroin from her possession near Children Park in Ludhiana.
20-Jan-2020
The Amritsar Rural police arrested a Jammu-based man, Sarvodhya Rakesh Bihari, in connection with the narco-terror module it busted on January 11, from Jammu in J&K. This is the seventh arrest in the case. According to Police, Sarvodhya had been working as supplier of drones, and was in contact with a Delhi-based company that had been supplying the drones without following guidelines of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
20-Jan-2020
Seven more villages of Hoshiarpur district were declared drug-free by the administration as part of the campaign launched against the drug menace by the Punjab Government. The district now boasts of having 45 drug-free villages. Deputy Commissioner Isha Kalia handed over drug-free village certificates to village authorities.
20-Jan-2020
The acting Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Harpreet Singh sought cancellation of cases registered against 9 Sikh youths held for vandalizing the platform of Punjabi folk dancers's statues on the Heritage Street leading to the Golden Temple. He said on January 20 that “Amritsar was the centre of Sikh religion and such statues should have not been installed in the 'Heritage Street'….There is a difference between Sikh and Punjabi culture as the latter also covers Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and people of all other religions living in Punjab, but the Sikh culture is distinct."
19-Jan-2020
Punjab police’ s Counter Intelligence (CI) wing arrested two cross-border drug smugglers, identified as Satnam Singh alias Satta and Gurpreet Singh alias Gora and recovered 4 kg of heroin from their possession in Mamdot in Firozepur District of Punjab. According to officials, Satnam Singh, during the interrogation,revealed that he was in touch with a Pakistani smuggler, Riaz Chacha. On the intervening night of January 6 and 7, he had received 5-kg heroin that was thrown in the fields situated along the fence near border outpost Maste kein Firozpur, which belonged to Gurpreet.
19-Jan-2020
Amritsar Rural police arrested sixth accused in the recently busted narco-terror module, identified as Rishab Kumar, from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. Police sources said that Rishab had sold a drone to the army naik Rahul Chauhan who was arrested along with two Chinese-made drones and arms on January 11.
19-Jan-2020
The misuse of drones by smugglers at the international border to fetch drug consignments has emerged as a major security threat in Punjab, says report. According to security sources, the easy availability of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) or drones has become a headache for the security agencies in Punjab. Police officials said that even though there were a number of regulations regarding the operation of drones, these were hardly being followed. The first incident of drone was reported in October 2019 when the Punjab Police arrested several Khalistani extremists who got sophisticated weapons from their handlers in Pakistan through drones. Recently, Amritsar rural police busted a drug cartel involving a soldier who was sneaking in drug consignments with the help of drones.
17-Jan-2020
The BSF recovered 22 packets comprising around 22 kg heroin, 90 rounds and two magazines of ammunition, WiFi connectors, two smartphones, a normal phone and a pipe from the Border Out Post (BOP) at Chontra in Gurdaspur sector in Punjab. According to sources, troops saw some movement near the fencing at Chontra post and opened fire, after which some smugglers ran towards the Pakistani side.
17-Jan-2020
A military deserter,Harpreet Singh (25) who recently escaped from Police custody from a hospital in Hoshiarpur, was arrested in Connaught Place in New Delhi. Earlier, Harpreet Singh had tricked police guards by making an excuse of going to the washroom and escaped from a civil hospital in Hoshiarpur by scaling its wall on January 14. Singh, who was a sepoy in the Indian Army, is facing charges for stealing two INSAS rifles and ammunition from the army's training institute in Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh.
17-Jan-2020
The BSF recovered six packets comprising 12.5 kg heroin, a China-made pistol with one magazine and nine rounds from BOP Rajatal in Amritsar sector in Punjab. BSF DIG Bhupinder Singh said, “When the jawans began to reach for their guns, the men on the other side threw what they were carrying and fled.”
17-Jan-2020
The BSF seized around 6 kg heroin from the BOP Rajoke in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. They also recovered US currency amounting to around 3 lakh rupees during a search after miscreants fled.
16-Jan-2020
The investigation into the recently busted narco-terror module has revealed that the Indian Army soldier,Naik Rahul Chohan, arrested along with two others with drones last week, was introduced to the smugglers at the International Border by their Pakistan-based handlers. Rahul Chohan contacted Dharminder Singh, a resident of border village Dhanoe Khurd, through Pak smugglers and in July 2019, the two allegedly started smuggling drugs using drones. They made several sorties in July and August. Though they stopped their activity for a month after the terror module busted in October, they resumed their activities in December.
15-Jan-2020
A Pakistani drone entered near Indian border at Channa Pattanam near Ajnala sector in Amritsar in Punjab. According to sources, after hearing the sound of a drone, the BSF fired around 100 rounds of bullets, though they couldn’t find the drone due to the dense of fog in the area.
14-Jan-2020
Senior officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) are looking at intelligence reports of rising incidents of weapons being pushed into India by Pakistan to aid Khalistani militants. According to sources, the probe into weapons smuggling began late last year (2019) after a Khalistani module was busted in Ludhiana in Punjab. Sources said that based on the interrogation reports of the two suspects - a woman who worked as a nurse in Faridkot and a man who used to work as a driver in Dubai - who were arrested in Ludhiana in November 2019, and additional intel inputs, senior officials at the UMHA have understood that large cache of weapons have been pushed inwards through some routes in Haryana and Rajasthan. It also added that the Pakistani handlers who are abetting the revival of Khalistani movement in the country have met some senior members of proscribed outfits - Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) in Pakistan recently.
14-Jan-2020
An army deserter, Harpreet Singh (25) who is accused of stealing rifles and ammunition from an army institute in Madhya Pradesh, managed to escape from the Police custody at the civil hospital in Hoshiarpur in Punjab where he was undergoing treatment for injuries. Harpreet was arrested from Tanda town on December 9, 2019 along with Jagtar Singh, the son of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) militant Harbhajan Singh. He was admitted to the civil hospital on December 31 with a fractured arm.