KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
India 04-Dec-2017
The Punjab Police filed a chargesheet against 11 Khalistan Zindabad Group (KZG) extrimist. Those named in the chargesheet included Harwinder Singh, Mohkam Singh Barnala, Amritpal Kaur, Tarsem Singh, Jarnail Singh, Satnam Singh, Sukhpreet Singh, Parminder Singh, Gaurav Kumar and Ramandeep Singh. They all were arrested in May 2017. However, one terrorist was not identified. During their arrests, the Punjab Police had recovered the letterhead of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and four weapons. The militants had formed the KZG and were planning to initiate another militant outfit — Jatha Veer Khalsa (JVK) - on the anniversary of the 1984 Operation Blue Star. These terrorists were financed by the Khalistani sympathisers based out in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom (UK), said an unnamed police official.
India 05-Dec-2017
An NIA probe into a series of targeted killings, including those of RSS workers, Dera Sacha Sauda followers and a pastor in Punjab in the last two years has revealed that Pakistan's ISI is using Khalistani extremists to try and stoke communal unrest in the state. The plan was to foment tension by killing key people and revive militancy. ISI turned to Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) led by Harminder Singh Mintoo, lodged in Moga jail, and Harmeet Singh, said to be living in Pakistan under ISI cover. Details of the conspiracy were revealed during questioning of two hitmen — Ramandeep Singh alias Canadian and Hardeep Singh alias Shera — by the NIA in the case relating to the murder of Ravinder Gosain, an RSS pracharak, in Ludhiana in October 2017.
India 09-Dec-2017
Desperate to create disturbances in India, Pakistani spy agency ISI is trying to revive terrorism in Punjab by recruiting radicalised youth from Canada and Europe while allegedly training them for sabotage activities in countries like Canada, Dubai and Thailand. Investigations by intelligence agencies have revealed that the ISI is using the annual pilgrimage to Nankana Saheb (birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev) to scout the radicalised Sikh youth and facilitate meetings with Sikh militants in Pakistan. "During the annual festival in Nankana Sahab in Pakistan, people from all over the world visit there and the ISI uses this occasion to facilitate meetings between Pak-based terrorist and their sympathisers who come from all over the world in guise of pilgrims," sources in the security agencies said.
India 12-Dec-2017
India’s NIA has been assigned six cases to investigate which are related to the Khalistan movement. Out of six, four cases are registered in Ludhiana and two in Khanna (Punjab). So far, the Punjab Police was investigating the case but now-on the NIA teams will investigate the matter. The NIA team has already reached the location, Ludhiana and Khanna to take over the investigation, said the NIA statement.The modus operandi in all six cases is similar therefore, regarding the possibility of domestic and international ramifications of the conspiracy in the matter, the Punjab Government had decided to hand-over the investigation to the NIA. After the discussion with top officials of the Punjab Police, the decision of transfer of the cases to the NIA team led by its Director Y.C. Modi, earlier this month.
India 25-Dec-2017
Burhan Wani—a ‘militant’ poster boy of Hizb-ul Mujahideen (HM) – who was killed in July 2016 has been adopted by the Sikh radical groups and posed as a ‘Hero of Freedom of Kashmir’ on the cover-page of the August 2016 issue of magazine—Vangaar, which went on sale at the Shaheedi Jor Mela in Fatehgarh Sahib District in Punjab. Reportedly, the magazine was being sold at a big-stall managed by supporters of Siromani Akali Dal (SAD) of Amritsar, near the Rauza Sharif along with other radical material including books, car-stickers, badges of Khalistani militants including Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
India 27-Dec-2017
The Indian Government informed the Rajya Sabha about the involvement of Pakistan's ISI in revival of the Khalistan movement in Punjab, through moral and financial support to the pro-Khalistan entities. Responding to the situation, the Government has implemented an integrated approach to counter such anti-India attempts via strengthening the vigilance along the borders and mechanisms of gathering and sharing of intelligence inputs, said Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir.