KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
25-Dec-2019
Based on the intelligence input, Government of India ordered the BSF, NIA, RAW and IB to monitor the activities of these Khalistan-backed terrorists and surveil the bordering areas of Punjab to prevent the smuggling of weapons in the state
24-Dec-2019
Police arrested a Rajasthan resident, identified as Kishan Lal along with 180kg poppy husk and 1kg opium from the Jandiala-Jalandhar road in Jalandhar. The truck carrying the contraband was also impounded. According to Police, the contraband was meant to be delivered in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Jagraon.
01-Oct-2019
One militant of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), Sajan Preet Singh, was arrested near Khalsa College in Amritsar, Punjab along with two pistols retrieved from a consignment of large arms from Pakistan. He was sent to five-day police remand.
30-Sep-2019
According to senior officials in the government, the decision to release eight Sikh prisoners and commute the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, the main conspirator in the 1995 assassination of former Punjab CM Beant Singh, is the culmination of various key steps taken by the Union Government to assuage the sentiments of the Sikh community and derail Pakistan’s “K2” (Kashmir & Khalistan) plan. According to them the main objectives of these decisions are “heal the wounds of the Sikh community”, and “wean away hardliners living abroad” from a conspiracy by Pakistan’s spy agency, ISI, to revive militancy in Punjab.
30-Sep-2019
Former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh's family threatened to move the court after the union government decided to commute convicted Khalistani terrorist Balwant Singh Rajaona's death sentence into life imprisonment. Beant Singh's grandson and Member of Parliament(MP) Ravneet Singh Bittu said "We will fight on every platform. Be it Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Amit Shah or their government. We will fight every war. We have lost whatever there was. How can we push people of Punjab towards Rajaona? Once released they will come and kill more people in the future. We know how to chain people like Rajaona." Bittu expressed the apprehension that Rajaona was a dreaded terrorist. He said that if his sentence is commuted, he will come out of jail and will indulge in bloodshed by getting parole.
30-Sep-2019
A five-member panel constituted by Sarbat Khalsa Jathedar Jagtar Singh Hawara demanded to release the Sikh prisoners who have completed their life sentences. The panel said that there are 22 such prisoners lodged in different jails across the country, including ten of them in Punjab jails and five in Chandigarh's Burrail Jail.
30-Sep-2019
Special Task Force (STF) arrested three persons, identified as Sukhraj Singh, Bhupinder Singh and Rajpal Singh, following an encounter near Jandiala in Amritsar District. Two of their accomplices managed to flee. STF has recovered 2 pistols, 3 magazines and 64 rounds from their possession.
29-Sep-2019
Police recovered missing parts of drone from the Dode-Chhapa canal near Chabhal town, around 35km from Tarn Taran district headquarters. Earlier, Police busted a Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) module that had weapons smuggled to it through a drone.
28-Sep-2019
India announced on September 28 that eight Sikh prisoners housed in Indian jails – Lal Singh, Davindar Pal Singh Bhullar, Harjinder Singh, Gurdeep Singh Khera, Waryam Singh, Subheg Singh, Nand Singh and Balbir Singh – would be prematurely released in a special exemption coinciding with the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. It also said that the death sentence handed to Rajoana, of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) outfit, was being commuted to a life sentence.
28-Sep-2019
Police searched the Amritsar Central jail, where three of the accused, Maan Singh, Akashdeep and Gurdev Singh, had hatched the conspiracy to receive weapons from across the border. “A search operation was launched in the barracks where Maan Singh was lodged. The barracks of Akashdeep and Gurdev Singh were also searched,” said a Police officer. Police seized three mobile phones found abandoned in the jail complex.
27-Sep-2019
According to reports, Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militant Aashiq Nengroo, originally hailing from Kakapora in Pulwama, along with Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) was instrumental in transporting consignments of arms, ammunition and explosives from Pakistan to Tarn Taran District of Punjab through drone.
27-Sep-2019
The state special operation cell (SSOC) of Punjab Police, based on a tip-off from arrested Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) members, recovered a drone from Mahawa village near Attari on the Indo-Pak border in Amritsar. The SSOC officials claimed that two KZF members,Akashdeep and Subhdeephad hid the drone in the bushes on the defense drain near the village.The Police have arrested seven members of the KZF terror module till now.
26-Sep-2019
The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) has reportedly arrested another member of the module identified as Shudhdeep Singh alias Shubh from an undisclosed place in Punjab. With his arrest, the Punjab Police have arrested seven members of the terror module till now. Sources said that Shubhdeep accompanied Akashdeep, Balwant Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Balbir Singh while retrieving the consignment of arms, ammunition, explosives and fake Indian currency notes smuggled to Indian side of border with the help of drones.
26-Sep-2019
A five-member NIA team visited the spot where a China-made drone was destroyed by the alleged Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terror module members. The interrogation of arrested persons revealed that they had also thrown several parts of the drone into UBDC canal near Dhode village near Jhabalin Amritsar district.
25-Sep-2019
The State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) of the Punjab Police arrested a Khalistani terrorist, Gurdev Singh, brother of Germany-based Gurmeet Singh Bagga alias Doctor, for his alleged involvement in the dropping of arms and ammunition by drones from across the border in Punjab from PAP Chowk in Jalandhar. FICN with a face value of three lakh was also recovered from his possession. Gurdev is the sixth person to have been arrested in connection with Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terror module in Punjab so far.
24-Sep-2019
Intelligence agencies sounded an alert in the northern region, cautioning against a terror attack aimed at high-profile military targets following an influx of infiltrators from across the border with Pakistan. Sources said the input came from technical surveillance and consequently, all stakeholders in the northern region, particularly Punjab and adjoining districts of Rajasthan, have been notified about the need for extra security.
23-Sep-2019
The Amritsar judicial magistrate court sent five members of a Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terror module busted by Punjab Police to 10-day Police remand. Punjab Police on September 22 arrested four KZF members from Chola Sahib village in Tarn Taran District. Police investigation revealed that one Maan Singh of Samurai village in Gurdaspur District, currently lodged in Amritsar jail in an Arms Act and UAPA case, had recruited Akashdeep when they were lodged together in the Amritsar jail. The four arrested accused and Maan Singh, who was brought on production warrant, were presented in the court which sent them to police remand till October 3.
23-Sep-2019
STF has recovered five AK 74 rifles, ten magazines, 200 rounds, 1 Austria made Glock pistol, 2 magazines and 20 rounds from Mamdot area near International Border with Pakistan in Firozpur District.
22-Sep-2019
Punjab Police busted a terror module of the revived Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), that was conspiring to unleash a series of terrorist strikes in Punjab and adjoining States, by arresting four suspects along with a huge cache of arms, including five AK-47 rifles, pistols, satellite phones and hand grenades from Tarn Taran District. Those arrested were identified as Balwant Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Balbir Singh. The module was backed by the Pakistan-based ‘chief’ of the KZF, Ranjeet Singh alias Neeta, and his Germany-based associate, Gurmeet Singh alias Bagga. The module was planning to carry out multiple terrorist strikes in J&K, Punjab and other States.
22-Sep-2019
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh decided to transfer the ‘KZF terror module’ case to NIA for further investigation. A statement released by the Punjab CMO stated, "Module was conspiring to unleash series of terror strikes in Punjab and/or adjoining states. Police seized huge cache of arms including 5 AK-47 rifles, pistols, satellite phones and hand grenades. Further investigations in the case handed over to NIA." Punjab CM also urged the Central Government to direct the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Border Security Force (BSF) to launch necessary counter-measures to check for any possible threats.
18-Sep-2019
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal sought intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure “expeditious and across-the-board release of all Sikh prisoners languishing in different jails in the country even after serving the full term of their sentence”.
18-Sep-2019
An alleged Pakistani spy, identified as Vipin Singh, was arrested from Gurdaspur cantonment area on charges of passing vital information regarding Kartarpur Corridor construction work to Pakistan's ISI. Officials recovered a mobile phone from his possession and they claimed that the mobile phone was used by Vipin Singh to communicate with Pakistan-based handlers and share photographs of the Kartarpur Corridor construction site.
17-Sep-2019
Police, on the basis of disclosure made by a man arrested for drug peddling last week, recovered 13.72 kg heroin buried in a field across the barbed fence on the India-Pakistan border near Daoke village in Amritsar District. The accused, Samsher Singh, alias Shera, was arrested with 7.5 kg heroin and ₹28 lakh drug money in Ajnala’s Poonga village on September 13. Police had also recovered 1kg heroin from at Bhaini Rajpootan on Shera’s disclosure on September 15. The contraband was pushed into the Indian territory by Pakistan-based smugglers, the Police said.
17-Sep-2019
After intelligence warning about the ISI network's nefarious design to revive the pro-Khalistan elements and whip up passions for separatist movement, the Central Government is planning to have a joint counter operation centre in Punjab involving NIA, external spy agency R&AW, counter-terror unit of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Punjab Police.
17-Sep-2019
Punjab Police procured five-day remand of seven persons arrested in connection with the September 4 Tarn Taran blast.Those arrested include Harjit Singh, Maandeep Singh alias Massa, Amritpal Singh Randhawa, Manpreet Singh, Channdeep Singh, Armarjit Singh and Malkit Singh. Harjit is considered to be the kingpin.The investigation revealed the close relations of the arrested persons with foreign-based pro-Khalistan leaders. Sources said that the suspects confessed their links with Khalistani elements, who were providing them funds.