KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
09-Jan-2016
A BSF Constable Anil arrested by Punjab Police for allegedly helping a cartel of drugs and arms smugglers infiltrate heroin and weapons into India. The arrest followed the January 4 incident, when three persons were arrested for smuggling narcotics. Their interrogation then led the investigators to Anil who was deployed with the 52nd Battalion of the BSF.
07-Jan-2016
Sikh political prisoner Hardeep Singh, who was associated with Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), was released from the Amritsar Central Jail in Punjab following clearance from the State Government. Hardeep was released owing to his good conduct. Hardeep was arrested under various sections of the Militant and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA), besides Section 302 (murder charges) of the IPC in 1993.
04-Jan-2016
There have been 136 terror attacks in India in the last 27 years, according to the UMHA. The state of Punjab has witnessed 34 terror attacks over the highest. Most of the attacks occurred during the 1990s, with the latest attacks reinforcing the view that India’s security forces cannot cope with small bands of militants. A majority of the 34 attacks in Punjab over 27 years were between 1990-1992, a time when Sikh militancy was at its peak; 31 of 34 attacks took place in the 1990s, while the 16 years between 2000 and 2015 saw three attacks in Punjab.
04-Jan-2016
Former militant Baaj Singh, a native of Bhullar village, was released prematurely.
04-Jan-2016
Mohali Police arrested three persons, identified as Harjinder Singh, Gurjant Singh, and Sandeep Singh, along with Pakistani SIM card, mobiles, weapons and ammunition. The three criminals were involved in an interstate narcotics smuggling gang.
30-Dec-2015
BSF Recovered drugs and weapons from over 550 kilometres of the porous India – Pakistan border. BSF troopers confiscated around 344 kilograms of heroin from the IB, which was the second major seizure in the past five years.
28-Dec-2015
An Indian Air Force (IAF) employee Ranjith KK was arrested after the IAF dismissed him from service for leaking sensitive information.
22-Dec-2015
Sikh For Justice (SFJ) who was under the radar of Intelligence agencies for aiding militants and funding of terror and the UK and Canada government would be contacted to act against the outfit. Now the Sikh for Justice raising funds to prevent the deportation of BKI militant Paramjeet Singh Pamma who is also associated with KTF and arrested in from a hotel in Portugal last week. Paramjeet was reportedly based in England on 'political asylum' since 1994-95. Paramjeet was reportedly the main fundraiser for BKI. Around INR 25, 00,000 has been raised from gurudwaras in France and the UK over the past few days, apparently to help Paramjeet engage a formidable legal defense to contest his deportation. Avtar Singh of Sikhs for Justice, a New-York based Sikh rights outfit, arrived in Paris from Canada on December 20, 2015, a couple of days after Paramjeet--wanted for 2010 twin bomb blasts in Patiala and Ambala and murder of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat leader Rulda Singh in 2009, was arrested by the Portugal Police.
13-Dec-2015
Arms and ammunition (a pistol, two magazines, 10 live rounds), fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) totalling INR 5, 97, 500, narcotics and a Pakistani SIM card were seized by the Border Security Force (BSF) near the Noor Wala border outpost in Ferozepur Sector of International Border (IB). In another operation of the BSF near the border outpost at Kulwant, 1-kilogram heroin was seized. The contraband is worth INR 5 crore in the international market
03-Dec-2015
A major narcotics racket was neutralized and Goods worth INR 70 million seized from nine men by police. The consignment-1 kilogram of Alprazolam, an anti-depressant, 6.4 kilograms of heroin and around 2 kilograms of opium-was being transported from Punjab by a group of men from Nigeria, Afghanistan, and Punjab. The accused have been identified as Harjinder Singh (28), Durgesh (33) from Punjab, Ubah Casmir Amobi (35), Abu Bakr (28), Mohd Akhtar (31), Shabir Ahmed Bhat (38), Ezeh Chinedu Joseph (34), Ugo Geoffery Franklin (39), and HaziImamudin (50).14 mobile phones have also been seized.
21-Nov-2015
To revive Khalistan movement in Punjab and execute more attacks like Gurdaspur to destabilize peace in the state of Punjab recently Pakistan’s ISI held a meeting with militant outfits, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Babbar Khalsa and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF). KZF 'chief', Ranjeet Singh alias Neeta, works closely with the ISI to carry out terror attacks in Punjab. Neeta has provided a two-month-long language training to LeT’s Fidayeen (suicide bombers) near Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib near Lahore, in Punjab (Pakistan). “The militants have been trained by Neeta in the Sikh tradition and Gurumukhi script. They are likely to be disguised as locals following infiltration. Local police departments and state law enforcement agencies have been put on high alert,” intelligence input based on intercepted communication revealed. ISI and terror groups sheltered by the Pakistani state authorities have been systematically trying to revive the militancy in Punjab with the help of Babbar Khalsa and outfits such as the KZF. The Pakistan-based outfits are also getting financial support from sympathizers in Germany and the UK.
20-Nov-2015
Supreme Court (SC) directions issued to send the file of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) self-styled commander Jagtar Singh Tara to Chandigarh Session Court to begin the trial of the accused on November 20. Tara is charged in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh (August 31, 1995). Tara was arrested from a person’s house that was sheltering him at the behest of Pakistan’s ISI agency in Thailand in January.
19-Nov-2015
Police recovered nearly five kilograms of heroin from a goods train returning from Pakistan in the border region of Punjab.
02-Nov-2015
The operations cell of the Chandigarh Police filed a detailed charge-sheet against BKI militant Jagtar Singh Tara, charging him with escaping from Police custody, sedition and waging war against the country in the Burail jailbreak case. The charge sheet included the copies of Pakistan-made fake ID card of Tara and four FIRs registered against him after his escape from the jail for spreading terrorism in Punjab. It was filed in the court of CJM Anubhav Sharma. Tara along with Jagtar Singh Hawara, Paramjeet Singh Bheora, and Devi Singh had escaped after digging a 98-foot long tunnel in January 2004. An unnamed senior police official stated, "The charges of sedition and waging war against the country were levelled against Tara based on fresh evidence like proof of his presence in Pakistan and attempts to revive terrorism." Tara was arrested by a joint team of Punjab and Thailand police from Thailand in January 2015. He was brought to Chandigarh in connection with the jailbreak case on February 17, 2015. The charge sheet was filed under sections 223, 224, 452, 457, 121, 121 A, 123, 217, 221 and 120 B of Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Chandigarh Police has also filed an appeal in Punjab and Haryana high court challenging the acquittal of all jail officials in the case.
28-Oct-2015
BSF submitted a report to the UMHA on the narco-trafficking in Punjab. The detailed report suggests an increase in drug smuggling across the border, the BSF had seized heroin worth 67 kilograms in 2011, while in 2012; the seizure was elevated to 288 kilograms. These figures touched 313 kilograms and 324 kilograms in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The report further stated that there are numerous couriers in the border regions of Punjab which are being paid INR 60,000 per kilogram, and well-network groups ensure the drug consignments are safely cleared and smuggled.
22-Oct-2015
Intelligence agencies report that Pakistan’s ISI is behind the recent cases of desecration of Guru Granth Sahib in its bid to revive the Khalistan insurgency in the state of Punjab. The involvement of Foreign hands is traced by investigations and traced calls to Australia by two suspects arrested in the Faridkot sacrilege case, Jaswinder Singh and Rupinder Singh. Police believe the funding comes from Australia and Dubai for desecration incidents. ISI is working with pro-Khalistan elements in the Sikh diasporas to revive militancy in Punjab. ISI officials in Pakistan had met militants from jihadi outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba(LeT) and with Sikh militants of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) to plot strikes in Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi. Nearly 15-20 militants who were trained by ISI, which also issued funds for the anti-India strikes, were acquainted with Sikh traditions and Gurumukhi script at Kartarpur Sahib, a gurudwara in Pakistan, with the help of KZF's Ranjit Singh. They were also briefed on the topography of Punjab. Even the commemoration of Operation Blue Star anniversary earlier this year by hardliner Sikh elements across the United Kingdom (UK), France, Canada, Germany, Pakistan, and Malaysia, etc, was noted with concern by Indian agencies. More recently, ISI officials had reportedly visited a gurudwara in South Hall, London, to incite trouble ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit there. A senior intelligence official claimed that ISI's mission to rekindle the embers of militancy in Punjab has been encouraged by the weakness of the state leadership and the churn in Punjab society.
20-Oct-2015
Central intelligence agencies warned the Punjab government against Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI’s possible attempt to create trouble in Punjab. The letter, dated October 1 talked about an attempt by the ISI to send a group of militants trained in Sikh manners and customs to create trouble in the state. Intelligence agencies sent the letter to senior Punjab police officer that circulated to all districts to take necessary steps. The letter said a group of 15-20 militants from Pakistan - who had undergone arms training under 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Sayeed - had been trained in "Sikh traditions and Gurumukhi script at Pakistan's Gurudwara Sahib for about two months". Their trainer was Ranjeet Singh, the Chief of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF). However, despite the advance information, protests seared Punjab over the acts of desecration, plunging the Akali-BJP Government into the worst crisis of its nine-year rule.
27-Sep-2015
ISI has mobilized militants belonging to groups like LeT, JeM, and HM as well as Sikh militants associated with BKI and KZF remnants based on its soil, for possible joint strikes in Punjab, Jammu, and Kashmir, Delhi or other parts of India.
12-Aug-2015
Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal dispatched a communiqué to Union home minister for an increase in deployment of Border Security Force (BSF) personnel on the International Border (IB) with Pakistan along the Punjab border to prevent cross border infiltration and avert any kind of terror strike. Badal visited some forward posts of BSF adjoining the border and realized the need for more personnel on the border to keep watch. He Said that the IB adjoining territory of Punjab should have the same strength of forces on the pattern of Jammu and Kashmir borders.
27-Jul-2015
Five bombs recovered from Dinanagar- Pathankot railway track.
08-Jul-2015
According to Intelligence reports Pakistan’s ISI is funding pro-Khalistan groups in India and abroad including Babbar Khalsa in India, US, Germany, and Canada. 22 Sikhs that rose slogans on the periphery of Golden Temple near Akal Takht in Amritsar recently were instructed to take help from Pakistan to spread violence in India. According to a report the Pakistani spy agency can also use the ultras of four Khalistan militant groups - Ranjit Singh Meeta - headed Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), Jagtar Singh Tara-headed Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), Wadhwa Singh-led Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Harminder Singh Minto-led Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) - to revive militancy and launch terror strikes in Punjab. The ISI and the radical Sikh groups are trying to lure unemployed youths to join terror groups.
30-May-2015
Jagtar Singh Tara, the Sikh militant divulged that while he was based in Pakistan, he had sent to India with weapons and explosives, including three AK-47s, to kill Shiv Sena leaders in Gurdaspur in Punjab. Tara mentioned that he was in regular touch with militants in jails across Amritsar and Nabha and had sent the weapons in 2013. These revelations are part of a 20-page investigation report by the IB and Punjab Police and come about a month after Shiv Sena state secretary Harvinder Soni was shot at in Gurdaspur while playing volleyball on April 12, 2015. A jailed militant, Sukchain Singh Khurmania, lodged in Amritsar prison, in a conversation with Tara demanded timers, detonators, and pistols in September 2014.
19-May-2015
Jagtar Singh Tara head of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) who was involved in the killing of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995 disclosed that LeT trains and assist Khalistan militant. KTF is also assisted by LeT. KTF claimed responsibility and LeT was involved in October 12, 2011 Ambala (Haryana) RDX recovery inside an Indica car that meant to carry out a major blast in New Delhi on Diwali 2011. According to the interrogation report, Tara had held three meetings with LeT militant Asdullah Maulvi between 2012 and 2014 to deliver consignments of arms and RDX into Punjab. Maulvi is currently in Sialkot, Pakistan and is directly controlled by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). The report also said that Tara had told LeT that he did not have enough foot soldiers in Punjab to carry out attacks. LeT had then offered to send both 'hardware' as well as fidayeen attackers. According to Tara as many as six LeT men were backing KTF.
23-Apr-2015
India has raised the concern of pro-Khalistan extremist groups with their Canadian counterparts about Pro Khalistanis active in Canada at the behest of Pakistan’s ISI. About a month before Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s Canada visit, a joint working group on counter-terrorism comprising security officials of both the countries held a meeting on March 19. Several issues, including those related to threat assessment, extremism, and foreign fighters, were taken up. India raised the issue of Pakistan’s ISI using some Canada-based pro-Khalistan groups and individuals for anti-India activities. Intelligence agencies have identified a Canadian national with Indian roots, an alleged associate of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Jagtar Singh Tara who was recently arrested in Thailand and deported to India.
29-Mar-2015
Two Pakistani smugglers were shot dead by BSF and 12 kilograms of heroin and 1 AK-47 rifle was recovered at International Border in Punjab.