KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
India 15-Dec-2020
Two cross border smugglers, identified as – Lakhbir Singh and Bachittar Singh, were arrested in Amritsar District. The duo were members of a module that used drones to smuggle narcotics and weapons into India through Pakistan-based smugglers with links to pro-Khalistan operatives, the Punjab Police said in a statement. A quadcopter drone with a mini receiver and camera support, a .32 bore revolver, a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), cartridges and drugs have been recovered from their possession. Police said that the interrogation of the accused has revealed their alleged association with four other smugglers, who were lodged in the Amritsar jail.
India 17-Dec-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) shot dead two militants near the Attari area along the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Amritsar District. The armed Pakistani militants were attempting to infiltrate into the Indian side of the border when they were gunned down. Their identities are yet to be ascertained
Canada 18-Dec-2020
According to a report published by Macdonald Laurier Institute, a reputed think tank based in Ottawa, Canada, ‘Khalistan’ project is sponsored by Pakistan, and it is detrimental to the national security of not only India but Canada as well. Terry Milewski, one of Canada's veteran journalists, who authored the report reveals how Pakistan launched the ‘Khalistan’ insurgency using Indian Sikhs in Indian Punjab to avenge its own defeat in the Indo-Pak 1971 war. Interestingly, the report points out how Pakistan viewed the ‘Khalistan’ project as a strategic buffer and how an independent ‘Khalistan’ would end India's land access to Kashmir to the north, another key interest of the Pakistan Army since 1947. The report claims that the western democracies with large Sikh communities like Canada, the UK and the US are aware of this absurdity and therefore, skeptical of the ‘Khalistan referendum’, planned for November 2020.
India 18-Dec-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 6 kilograms of heroin worth INR 300 million in the international market, from across the barbed wire fencing along the International Border (IB) in Fazilka District. BSF also arrested a smuggler in connection with the recovery of heroin.
India 18-Dec-2020
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet against 10 accused persons including designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun of the banned secessionist organization - Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) before the NIA Special Court at Mohali in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar District. Originally registered by Punjab Police at Sultanwind Police Station, Amritsar (City) on October 19, 2018, the case was subsequently re-registered by NIA on April 5, 2020. The case relates to series of acts of violence including acts of arson in Punjab during the year 2017-18, carrying out of propaganda activities both online and on ground campaigns in support of SFJ and ‘Referendum 2020’. These acts were committed by a gang of radicalised Sikh youth under direction and financial assistance from SFJ handlers located abroad as part of an organized conspiracy by the accused for launching a concerted secessionist campaign for the creation of ‘Khalistan’. The charge sheeted accused are – Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, r/o New York USA, Pargat Singh, Sukhraj Singh aka Raju, Bikramjit Singh aka Vicky, Manjeet Singh aka Manjit Singh aka Manga, Jatinder Singh aka Goldi, Gurwinder Singh aka Gurpreet Singh aka Gopi, Harmeet Singh aka Happy, Kuldeep Singh aka Kuldip Singh aka Keepaand and Harmeet Singh aka Raju.
India 19-Dec-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 2.232 kilograms of heroin worth INR 120 million in the international market, from the International Border (IB) in Ferozepur District.
India 20-Dec-2020
11 hand grenades reportedly dropped by a drone from Pakistan were recovered by Border Security Force (BSF) troopers from a sugarcane field near the International Border (IB) at Silach village in Gurdaspur District. Rajesh Sharma, Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), BSF, said the troopers on hearing the buzzing sound of a drone in the late night of December 19 near Chakri outpost, fired multiple shots towards the source. The Police authorities were alerted and a joint search operation was initiated leading to the recovery of the grenades on the following day. The 11 grenades of Arges-type HG-84 were placed in a neatly packed wooden box. The drone, however, was not recovered and it is suspected that it managed to fly back to Pakistan after dropping the payload.
Canada 21-Dec-2020
The banned US-based pro-Khalistan group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) filed a civil defamation lawsuit against the Ottawa-based think tank Macdonald-Laurier Institute (MLI), with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice over the institute’s report ‘Khalistan: A Project of Pakistan’, claiming it was a “malicious attempt to undermine the legitimacy of Referendum 2020 and to threaten SFJ’s viability as a not-for-profit organisation”. “MLI’s report is defamatory, malicious, misleading… feeds into a narrative that is being propagated by the government of India. Contrary to MLI’s allegations, Khalistan Referendum is a gross root initiative led by Sikh sovereigntists,” SFJ’s general counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun said in a statement. The MLI, on the other hand, has said that the defamation lawsuit filed by the SFJ is a “meritless attempt to silence public debate”.
India 22-Dec-2020
Officials of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested an absconding Khalistani terrorist, identified as Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, who was hiding in Cyprus (Europe), upon his arrival at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi. According to NIA officials, Nijjar of Pandori Sukha Singh village in Ajnala Tehsil (revenue unit) of Amritsar District in Punjab, was wanted in a case registered on January 10, 2019, against Harpal Singh, another Khalistani terrorist, under various sections of the Arms Act, Maharashtra Police Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The investigation later revealed that Nijjar was the main conspirator in the case. “Accused Nijjar, Harpal Singh and Moin Khan were active on social media platforms and had hatched a criminal conspiracy to revive Sikh militancy for the formation of a separate state of Khalistan,” a senior NIA official said adding that the trio used to post videos and images praising militant Jagtar Singh Hawara (a convict in Beant Singh assassination case). They also posted images and videos of Operation Bluestar and pro-Khalistani posts related to the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) with the intention of motivating Sikh youths and others to join the ‘Khalistan movement’.
India 22-Dec-2020
The Punjab Police recovered an AK-47 rifle and a magazine with 30 live cartridges evidently dropped by the Pakistani drone in Border Outpost (BOP) Chakri under Dorangala Police Station limits in Gurdaspur District. The Police maintained that the arms were evidently a part of the same consignment (11 hand grenades) that was dropped by a Pakistani drone previously in the area on December 20. Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said that the package, containing the assault rifle, appeared to have been dropped in the wheat fields in the area of Wazir Chak village, 1.5 kilometers from Salach village, Dorangla Police Station (Gurdaspur).
India 23-Dec-2020
Two Khalistani terrorists, identified as Tejprakashalias Kaka and Akashdeep Singh alias Sonu, working for the US based banned secessionist group - Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), were arrested along with weapons and live cartridges near Karnal in Haryana. According Haryana Police, during interrogation, revealed that they were in touch with a US-based terrorist Gurmeet Singh, who transferred lakhs of rupees in their accounts via MoneyGram. The duo was arrested when they were returning after purchasing the arms. They also revealed that they had planned to attack two Shiv Sena leaders in Punjab named Sudhir Suri and Gursharanmand, under the direction of Gurmeet Singh.
India 24-Dec-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) spotted a Pakistani drone twice within an hour in Chandu Wadala and Rosse Border Outposts (BoPs) in Kalanaur subdivision of Gurdaspur District. BSF Deputy Inspector General (DIG, Gurdaspur sector) Rajesh Sharma said at around 1 am, personnel of the 58th Battalion sighted and subsequently fired upon the drone, forcing it to fly back into Pakistan. An hour later, the security agencies again spotted the drone and opened fire. Sharma informed Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rajinder Singh Sohal, following which a joint search operation was launched in 15 villages located near the International Border (IB).
India 27-Dec-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel recovered around three kilograms of heroin from the Indo-Pak border at Attari sector in Amritsar District. The alert BSF troopers also recovered around 12-feet long plastic pipe near Burj border outpost under Bhindi Saida Police Station limits in the district. The pipe bearing a marking of made in Pakistan was found on the Indian side of the International Border (IB).
India 30-Dec-2020
A joint team of Police and the Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 7.31 kilograms of heroin and three China-made .30 bore pistols from the Metla Border out Post (BoP)in the Dera Baba Nanak sector of Gurdaspur District. The consignment was pushed into the Indian territory by Belgium-based terrorist Jagdish Singh alias Bhura, who has links in Pakistan. During investigation, it was found that drug peddler Ranjit Singh, who is lodged in the Ludhiana jail, played a key role in the smuggling of the consignment.
India 30-Dec-2020
Security Forces recovered 5 kilograms heroin, worth INR 250 million in the international market, a pistol, two magazines and two live cartridges from across the barbed wire fencing in the area of BoP, Santokh Singh Wala, in Jalalabad subdivision of Fazilka District.
India 31-Dec-2020
An employee of the Halwara Air Force station, identified as Ram Singh, was arrested by Punjab Police for allegedly working for Pakistan’s intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), from Sudhar area in Ludhiana District. “Ram Singh, an employee of Halwara Air Force station, has been booked and arrested for allegedly working for Pakistan’s ISI, in the Sudhar area of Ludhiana, Punjab. Two of his associates are on the run,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Charanjit Singh Sohal.
India 31-Dec-2020
The Border Security Force (BSF) foiled an infiltration attempt by a group of Pakistani smugglers to infiltrate and push narcotics into the Indian territory by recovering an iron ladder and a contraption with a pole in the Khanpur area of Abohar Sector along the International Border (IB) in Fazilka District.