KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
16-Sep-2019
The Madras High Court in Tamil Nadu received a bomb threat from a person claiming to be a member of ‘International Khalistan Support Group’. In a five-line letter addressed to the registrar general of the High Court, Hardarshan Singh Nagpal, claimed he was a resident of Sudershan Park in Moti Nagar in New Delhi, and said he along with his son “will do multiple bomb blasts inside the high court buildings on September 30”.
16-Sep-2019
The Punjab Police detained 10 persons allegedly belonging to a Khalistani terror module for questioning in connection with the September 4 Tarn Taran blast. Police said, on the basis of strong leads, 10 persons had been detained, who were being questioned on the probable target of the bomb they were making. Officials also confirmed there was no trace of RDX from the blast site.
15-Sep-2019
Police arrested a Tanzanian woman, identified as Rehma and recovered 2 kg heroin from her at Dainwind village in Kapurthala of Kapurthala District. Kapurthala SSP, Satinder Singh said that she was visiting India on a business visa and living with her relatives. She had earlier supplied drugs five times in other cities in Punjab and was caught supplying drugs in Kapurthala District.
15-Sep-2019
Sikh hardliners praised Narendra Modi led Union Government for scrapping the black list that will allow many Sikhs to visit their motherland, meet relatives and celebrate 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. While expressing gratitude towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, informal Sarbat Khalsa-appointed parallel acting Jathedar of Akal Takht Dhian Singh Mand said, “It is a highly commendable act of Indian government and deserves acknowledgement.”
15-Sep-2019
Former Khalistan ideologue Wassan Singh Zaffarwal also hailed Narendra Modi Government. “Now those Sikhs can come to their motherland, meet their relatives and participate in the celebration functions of 550th birth anniversary of the first Guru,” he said.
13-Sep-2019
One person, identified as Shamsher Singh Shera was arrested along with a cache of 7.5 kg of heroin and INR 28 lakh drug money from Amritsar in Punjab. SPS Parmar,IG, Border Range said that "We are interrogating the cross-border angle in this matter. We are also probing into the forward and backward linkages of the matter".
13-Sep-2019
A blacklist of Sikh foreign nationals who have been barred from travelling to India for decades has been reduced from 314 to just 2, a senior UMHA official said. The 312 nationals removed from the blacklist, formally called the ‘Central Adverse List’, will be “eligible to get Indian visa and the Overseas Indian Card” in due course, the official said. The decision to whittle down the list was taken after a ‘review’ of threats posed by these people to India. These blacklisted Sikhs have been mostly living in the US and Canada in North America; and the UK, France and Germany in Europe. It has included Sikh community leaders who had promoted the cause of Khalistan, former militants, those connected to the ideology without a criminal record, and those who sought political asylum contending threat to their lives from the Indian authorities.“This review is a continuous and dynamic process and is a part of a regular exercise. Such a review will afford an opportunity to such Sikh foreign nationals to visit India, meet their family members and reconnect to their roots, “the official said.
13-Sep-2019
The Punjab Government has decided to distribute religious literature in all prisons in the state to mark the 550th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikh religion, Guru Nanak Dev. On the eve of the Sikh Guru's birthday celebrations, the Punjab Government has also proposed to release 550 prisoners on account of good conduct.
13-Sep-2019
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) condemned the Pakistan Government’s decision to charge INR 1,400 per pilgrim as service charge for using the upcoming Kartarpur corridor, saying the neighbouring country is trying to impose ‘jazia’ (a tax non-Muslims pay under Sharia law) on Indian devotees.
12-Sep-2019
India urged Pakistan to show ‘some flexibility’ on the Kartarpur Corridor to ensure the celebrations of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev is conducted smoothly. Earlier in the day, Pakistan said that pilgrims will be charged $20 as service charge for visiting the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara.
11-Sep-2019
Police arrested six more suspects in connection with the explosion which took place near Kaler village in Tarn Taran District on September 4. The arrested suspects belong to Gurdaspur, Patti and Amritsar and were being interrogated. Two persons were killed and another one was injured in the blast that took place in an agriculture field.
11-Sep-2019
According to sources, the interrogation of 32 people in connection with Tarn Taran blast has provided important leads about the motive behind the explosion."The accused wanted to cause a blast at a public place. Investigation is on to find out who these people were working for", an unnamed senior police official said. Sources also said that the Police suspect the hand of ISI and Khalistani terror groups in the explosion. Traces of foreign funding have also been found. Tarn Taran District was a hotbed for terror activities during the Khalistan militancy days.
11-Sep-2019
The Punjab Police, in a move to restructure its Intelligence Department, formed a separate ‘internal security wing’ to specifically focus on anti-terrorism and anti-internal insurgency operations. Under this new administrative arrangement, three major wings of Intelligence Department, Counter Intelligence (CI), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Organised Crime Control Unit (OCCU) will now be supervised by ADGP (internal security) — a new post created recently. 1993-batch IPS officer RN Dhoke was transferred to the post on September 9. Earlier, functioning of these three wings (CI, FIU, OCCU) which are headed by IG, used to be directly supervised by the intelligence chief.
11-Sep-2019
Baldev Kumar, a former lawmaker of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who has sought asylum in India, said that he has been receiving threatening phone calls from across the border. Baldev Kumar has sought political asylum in India for himself and his family, citing atrocities against minorities in Pakistan.
11-Sep-2019
The Special Task Force (STF) Ludhiana Ferozepur range arrested a drug peddler, identified as Ravinder Singh Nikka along with 1kg heroin and 100 gm of expensive ice drug from Chimney road in Shimlapuri in Ludhiana District.
11-Sep-2019
In a joint operation conducted by the health officials and the district administration, an illegal drug de-addiction centre, which was running under the name of ‘Khalsa Welfare Foundation’, was busted in Punjab's Fatehgarh Sahib District. The authorities rescued as many as 14 addicts being allegedly tortured in the centre.
11-Sep-2019
The Minister of Forests, Sadhu Singh Dharamsot demanded the arrest of former Pakistan lawmaker Baldev Kumar, who arrived in India a month ago. He said the antecedents of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader should be verified as sending him to India could be a ploy of Pakistan spy agency, ISI.
10-Sep-2019
The BSF team deployed along the border near the Sutlej river had successfully seized eight kilograms of heroin and 55 grams of opium. Since the rise of water level in the Sutlej river in Punjab's Ferozepur, smugglers from Pakistan have been continuously sending narcotics by turning the rough flow of the river into their advantage.
10-Sep-2019
The Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) Amritsar Sub-Zone said that it had busted an international network of drug trafficking operating in Delhi, Punjab and Mumbai with linkages in Australia and Canada.
09-Sep-2019
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh inaugurated a state-of-the-art Digital Investigation Training and Analysis Centre (DITAC) to strengthen Punjab’s anti-terror capabilities in the face of growing cyber terror threat, particularly along the vulnerable bordering areas exposed to infiltration and narcotics smuggling. The Chief Minister said that the new emerging cyber threats had necessitated the enhancement of online technical intelligence systems.
08-Sep-2019
The Special Task Force (STF) arrested a gangster, Jatinder Kumar Chintu, and his accomplice, Shiv Kumar along with 500-grams heroin at Kakowal road in Ludhiana District of Punjab. Inspector Harbans Singh, in-charge STF Ludhiana Range said that the accused had confessed their involvement in procuring and selling heroin among his customers from different areas of Amritsar, Jammu and Delhi.
07-Sep-2019
The Sarbat Khalsa appointed Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara was produced before the Ludhiana based court of Judge Atul Kasana via video conference in a case pertaining to bomb blast occurred near Ludhiana’s clock tower in 1995. Sources said that the hearing of this case has been adjourned to September 18 for recording of Bhai Hawara’s statement under section 313 Cr.P.C through video conferencing.
07-Sep-2019
Bhai Jagtar Singh Hawara was also produced before the court of Judge Arunveer Vashisht via video conferencing in a case registered against him under the Arms and Explosive Act in Police Station Kotwali of Ludhiana in 1995. Without any proceedings in this case, the next hearing was adjourned to October 5 for final arguments.
06-Sep-2019
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said that the two people killed and one injured in a blast in Tarn Taran District in Punjab were trying to make a bomb in a bottle."The three people were digging a pit during the night and were trying to make a bomb in a bottle with a mixture of some chemicals that exploded. Two died in this incident and one had injuries in his eyes," Singh said. He further added that "We will find out who were making these bombs, how were they being made and for whom these bombs were being made. It will be known".
06-Sep-2019
A National Security Guard (NSG) team along with Punjab Police inspected the site at Tarn Taran District’s Pandoori Gola village where a blast took place on September 4, and recorded statements of people living in the nearby areas. The Punjab Police’s Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) wing rounded up more than 100 suspects in connection with the case, but no one was arrested.