KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
19-Apr-2018
Punjab’s Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh met the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and discussed a comprehensive strategy to tackle the terrorism or re-emergence of extremism in the State. There is a need to strengthen the Intelligence sharing on the terrorists’ handlers based in Canada, UK, US, Italy and Germany, who are actively involved in the efforts for the revival of Sikh militancy in Punjab, said CM Amarinder Singh. CM Amarinder Singh also urged for assistance from the Central Government regarding Punjab Police modernisation and the UHM Rajnath Singh agreed to look for the demand under the ‘Modernisation of Police Forces’ scheme.
18-Apr-2018
Khalistan Liberation Force’s (KLF) ‘Chief’ Harminder Singh Mintoo died on April 18, in the Nabha Central Jail in Patiala District of Punjab. Harminder Singh Mintoo played major role in conspiracy of revival of terrorism in Punjab. He was an alleged mastermind behind terror killings, fund-raise for terror activities, organising terror modules and backing the agenda of Khalistan in Punjab and elsewhere. Mintoo almost succeeded in establishing connection among gangsters, narco-smugglers, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and proscribed pro-Khalistan outfits, said an unnamed official.
16-Apr-2018
Photographs of Pakistan-based LeT ‘chief’ Hafiz Saeed and Sikh separatist Gopal Singh Chawla, has emerged in Lahore city of Pakistan. On April 14, Gopal Singh Chawla, followed the instructions of Pakistan authorities and denied the entry of Indian officials into the premises of Gurdwara Panja Sahib Ji in Hasan Abdal in Pakistan, on the occasion of Baisakhi Day. Members of Sikh extremist group also placed posters and banners of ‘Khalistan Referendum 2020’ in the Parikrama path of Gurdwara Panja Sahib Ji. The Indian High Commissioner to the Pakistan Ajay Bisaria was also ‘forced’ to return due to unspecified Security reasons when he approached the Gurdwara to meet and greet the pilgrims on the occasion of Baisakhi Day.
09-Apr-2018
In an arms recovery case, including AK-56, on December 30, 1995, extremist Jagtar Singh Hawara held guilty by a local court in Ludhiana District of Punjab. The Judicial Magistrate Varinder Kumar referred the case to the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Jaapinder Singh for pronouncing the sentence, as the CJM could grant imprisonment maximum of seven years. The matter would appear for hearing on April 13.
04-Apr-2018
The Bathinda Police, imposed charges on Dal Khalsa leader Baba Hardeep Singh Khalsa and former gangster Lakhbir Singh aka Lakha Sidana, in four different cases of damaging signboards placed outside the District administrative complex, Income Tax office, PN) and the Post Office located in the Civil Lines area in Bathinda District. Both of them were charged under Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act of 1984, and Section 5 of the Punjab Defacement of Property Ordinance Act (PDPO) of 1997.
02-Apr-2018
The Punjab Police’s Counter Intelligence Wing, spoiled an alleged attempt of Pakistan’s ISI to highlight the pro-Khalistan campaign of ‘Referendum 2020’ by setting buses and liquor vends afire at Banga-Mukandpur road and arrested four persons—Manvir Singh, Jaspreet Singh, Sukhwinder Singh, and Randhir Singh from Gunachaur village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar District in Punjab. All accused were radicalised by an unknown ISI agent through social-media. The ‘Referendum 2020’ is a project initiated by the US based Sikh radical group—Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and supports the ideology of Khalistan—a separate nation of Sikhs. The accused were conspiring to showcase the ‘Referendum 2020’ posters during the upcoming cricket match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Mohali (Chandigarh) in a bid to gather the attention of international visitors, said Assistant Inspector-General (IG) of Counterintelligence H.P.S Khakh. All accused are in their early twenties of age and were lured by the offer of lucrative jobs. The accused were frequent visitors to the Facebook page and came in contact with a Malaysia-based woman—Deep Kaur. Through a group on WhatsApp, Deep Kaur introduced all four accused to her leader—Fateh Singh, who instructed them to create chaos by setting up liquor shops and public transport buses on fire. Because, ‘Referendum 2020’ is not popular among Punjab’s youth, they [accused] wanted to highlight the issue through criminal means, said Khakh. Initially, the accused were paid INR 70,000 as funds, some of which was used to buy a motorbike, whereas rest of the money was given to an Amritsar resident—Asis, for buying illegal weapons.
31-Mar-2018
The experts based in Jammu and Chandigarh believes that the pro-Khalistani groups based in the UK and other foreign countries are discredited bunches and working on support from Pakistan. A group of radical Sikhs based in UK, including Wadhwa Singh of Sikh militant outfit—Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) are completely supported by Pakistan-based terrorist outfits, with an objective to conducts act of terrorism in India, claimed experts. Recently, a group of British-Sikhs and Kashmiri separatists based in the UK, held a meeting to organise an anti-India campaign during Indian PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK to attend the Commonwealth Summit on April 18.
20-Mar-2018
The NIA, which is probing the killings of the workers of RSS and a Pastor, has revealed a network of conspirators of Khalistani Liberation Force (KLF) and supported by Pakistan’s ISI with further connections through Dubai, France, the UK, Italy and Pakistan. As per the probing, the KLF ‘Chief’ Harminder Singh Mintoo, who is currently in Patiala Jail and his associated based in Pakistan—Harmeet Singh had masterminded the killings of RSS workers with intentions to disturb the law and order situation and revival of Khalistan militancy in Punjab. Harmeet Singh, suspected to mastermind the killings of RSS preacher Ravinder Gosain in October 2017, Shiv Sena leader Durga Das Gupta, and a Pastor, Sultan Masih. A UK resident, Jagtar Singh Johal, reportedly had connections with KLF financier and arranged finances to purchase murder weapons, execution of the killings and for the personal expenses of two hitmen hired for the killings. The NIA has traced the financial transactions to Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, UK, Italy and Dubai.
20-Mar-2018
2018 March 20 Former militant of Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI)—Ranjit Singh alias Rana (55) on March 20 was produced before the Judicial Magistrate of Phagwara and sent to Police remand till March 21 for further interrogation. He had been absconding for 19 years and living as a Granthi (Sikh priest) at a Gurdwara in Kohar Kalan village, near Shahkot for past 14 years. In preliminary interrogation, Ranjit Singh confessed to have connections with other Sikh terrorist Satnam Singh alias Satta and Gurlal Singh.
19-Mar-2018
The Punjab Police on March 19 has arrested an absconded militant, Ranjit Singh alias Rana (55) who belongs to the Bhindranwala Tigers Force (BTF), from a religious shrine at the village Kohar Kalan in Jalandhar District in Punjab. Ranjit Singh, resident of Jagatpur Jattan in Hoshiarpur District in Punjab, was working as a Granthi (Sikh priest) to conceal his identity for the past one year. He was on absconding status from 19 years, said an unnamed Police official. Rana was involved in five cases of murder and had served two years of sentence in a case, but was absconded in two other cases. Primarily, Rana was involved with BTF but did not ruled out his links with other Khalistani militant outfits such as Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) and Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), said Kapurthala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sandip Sharma
19-Mar-2018
With expressing its concern over the ‘developments’ in Sikh militancy, the UMHA claimed that Pakistan’s ISI is encouraging the Sikh youth based in the Europe and the United States (US) against India. Reportedly, ‘Commanders’ of Sikh militancy outfits based in Pakistan are under pressure from ISI to further expand their terror plans and activities not only targeting Punjab but also other regions of India. Sikh youth are getting training in Pakistan, read a report titled ‘Central Armed Police Forces and Internet Security Challenges—Evaluation and Response Mechanism’. The report was presented by Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha (the Lower House of the Indian Parliament) and released to the media on Wednesday in a press conference held by Dr Joshi.
17-Mar-2018
Jagtar Singh Tara, a Khalistani militant and assassin of former Punjab CM Beant Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment. If killing a cruel person could save lives of thousands of innocents, then there is nothing wrong in it, said Jagtar Singh through his counsel Simranjit Singh, while chants of pro-Khalistan slogans were on high. Jagtar Singh Tara urged the Court to consider him as a ‘Prisoner of War’ (PoW) as he was a Sikh nationalist fighting for the freedom of the occupied Sikh state.
12-Mar-2018
A Khalistani militant, Amarjeet Singh, who was arrested on February 26 has confessed that he wanted to kill a senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler for his alleged involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. During the interrogation, Amarjeet Singh confessed that he thought to use a human bomb to kill Tytler but later changed his mind. Amarjeet Singh—resident of Dalel Village of Mansa District in Punjab, was arrested in the court complex in Bathinda in February 2018.
28-Feb-2018
An ex-Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) member, Gurdev Singh Tanda—who was deported by Thailand Government, was produced before the Court in Amritsar and send to five days Police custody. Gurdev Singh had been active in propagating anti-India activities and was wanted in a terrorism related case of 2010. He was in Thailand since 2007, said an unnamed official.
28-Feb-2018
Former Khalistani militant, Jaspal Atwal, a Canadian Sikh had an e-visa to India. Jaspal Atwal raised the controversy by attending an event in Mumbai during the visit of Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to India concluded on February 24. As Atwal’s name had been removed from the UMHA’s list of prohibited Sikh militant in 2016, there was no clause that would hinder him to obtain an e-visa to India. Like other Canadian citizens, Atwal has a privilege to acquire an e-visa, but it shall not meant that Indian Government had any role in him being in India or extending an invitation to him to the event hosted to honour the Canadian PM Trudeau.
26-Feb-2018
The Sikh radical groups based out of India had put forward their demands which includes a ‘Vatican-like’ status for Sri Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in Amritsar, Punjab and Akal Takht (a Sikh authoritarian institution), and an apology from Indian PM Narendra Modi at a global forum for the 1984 Military-led Operation Blue Star. The contact related to the matter was established by the UK based Sikh groups via Jasdev Singh Rai, Director of the Sikh Human Rights Forum, before the visit of PM Modi to London in November 2015, which results to the initiation of formal talks on the matter between PM Modi and 30 Sikh members during their meeting. The interests of talks were highlighted in previous Indian Government too, but with Modi-led Government, the talk process picked up speed, said an unnamed person related to the developments.
22-Feb-2018
Attending the inaguration of a Gurdwara build in the memory of slain Sikh militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in his village, the representatives of major Sikh organisations described Bhindranwale as a ‘Martyr’ of 1984’s Operation Blue Star. The Gurdwara is located in Bhindranwale’s native village of Moga in Moga District of Punjab. The inauguration ceremony was attended by the heads of SGPC, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managing Committee (DSGMC), the Damdami Taksal and the Jathedars (leaders of Akal Takht) of five Takhts (seat of authority). The event was dominated by the discussions over the storming of the Sikh Holy Shrine—the Sri Harmandir Sahib or mostly known as the Golden Temple, and killing of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in Amritsar in June 1984. The representative accused the Indian Government led by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for the incidents.
21-Feb-2018
During their official meeting, the Punjab’s CM Captain Amarinder Singh handed-over a list to Canada’s Prime Minister (PM) Justin Trudeau, with details of active handlers, based in Canada, of Khalistani militants operating in Punjab. Most of the operatives in the list belongs to the banned outfit—International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). The details about operatives included their last visit to India, how the funding for firearms managed and how these groups received terror funding from Pakistan. Out of the nine, the list included five most-wanted operatives namely, Gurjeet Singh Cheema, Gurpreet Singh, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Gurjinder Singh Pannu, and Malkeet Singh alias ‘Fauji’.
21-Feb-2018
The Canadian PM Justin Trudeau said that his country [Canada] did not support any Sikh separatist movement in India or elsewhere. During his 40-minutes meeting with the CM of Punjab Captain Amarinder Singh, Trudeau assured the CM Amarinder Singh that Canada does not believe in Sikh separatism, even though the latter handed-over the list of nine Canada-resident operatives alleged for promoting radicalism. Amarinder Singh urged Canadian PM’s cooperation in dealing with separatism and hate crimes caused by a tiny proportion of Canada’s population. The Punjab CM also handed over to Trudeau a list of nine Canada-based operatives of Category “A”— allegedly involved in hate crimes in Punjab by financing and supplying weapons for terrorist activities, and also engaged in radicalising youth here.
20-Feb-2018
In a joint operation carried-out by the BSF and the STF of Amritsar on early hours of February 20, an unidentified Pakistani smuggler was killed and 10 kilograms of heroin was recovered from his possession at India-Pakistan border outpost at Ferozepur Sector in Ferozepur District of Punjab.
19-Feb-2018
The NIA spread-out its investigation to the UK, Australia, the UAE, Italy and Pakistan, in the cases related to the revival of Khalistan movement in Punjab. Upon the request made from the Government of Punjab, the UMHA on November 30, 2017, handed-over the investigation of homicide case of RSS member Ravinder Gosain in Ludhiana, to NIA.
16-Feb-2018
The slain Sikh militant and important leader of Khalistan movement—Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s home at his ancestral village in Baghapurana sub-Division of Moga District in Punjab has been converted into a ‘Gurdwara’ (Sikh temple) and opened for general public. The Gurdwara is dedicated to his [Bhindranwale] martyrdom and named as ‘Gurdwara Sant Khalsa’. His home condition was in shambles therefore it was decided to convert into a ‘place of worship’. The Gurdwara was built by the Damdami Taksal with no financial assistance from the previous Punjab Government led by the coalition of SAD-BJP, said Head of Damdami Taksal Harnam Singh Dhuma. No one in village opposed the construction of the Gurdwara and it was highly supported by the youths as they remember him [Bhindranwale] fondly, said a village resident Jaswinder Singh Brar.
08-Feb-2018
In a joint operation based on Intelligence inputs, the BSF and Punjab Police arrested Hans Singh—resident of Gajniwala Village, with two Kilograms of heroin, packed in four packets, worth INR 10 crores in international market, from nearby of India-Pakistan border outpost of Dona Raja Dina Nath, Amritsar Sector. The SFs also recovered a Pakistani mobile SIM card along with heroin buried under the soil
06-Feb-2018
Reacting to the recent edition of the Outlook India that featured a photo of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with the headline ‘Khalistan-II: Made in Canada’, the Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan and a fellow Minister Amarjit Sohi—called the magazine’s heading ‘ridiculous’ and ‘offensive’ for accusing Canada for its involvement in the rise of Sikh terrorism. The published article depicts several alleged connections between the Canada and Khalistan movement along with accusing Sikh-Canadians exploiting Canada’s political system. “I have been a Police Officer and served my country [Canada] and such allegations are absolutely ridiculous and extremely offensive, said Harjit Sajjan.
03-Feb-2018
The BSF recovered seven kilograms of heroin from an unidentified area near the border outpost New Dona Rai Dina Nath (DRDN) at the India-Pakistan border in Forezepur Sector, Ferozepur District in Punjab. The heroin was wrapped in seven packets, each of a kilogram, of polythene and was concealed under the grass near the International border.