MHA bans Khalistan Tiger Force, declares Rinda as terrorist

Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda, currently based in Pakistan and affiliated to Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) was on Friday declared a terrorist by the ministry of home affairs, officials said. The notification in this regard was issued by the MHA today. Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) has also been declared as terrorist organisation. 

Rinda, a resident of Rattoke village in Tarn Taran district in Punjab, is said to be currently based in Lahore and associated with the banned group BKI. He is alleged to be one of the masterminds behind an attack on the intelligence headquarters of the Punjab Police in Mohali in 2021. Rinda was first arrested in 2008 after a scuffle during a family feud, intelligence officials said. After getting in touch with criminals during his time in prison, Rinda shifted his base to Maharashtra’s Nanded. He moved to Pakistan in 2020 using fake passports after getting in touch with pro-Khalistan terror groups where he was provided security cover, a second intelligence official said. Last year in August, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced a cash reward of ₹10 lakh for information on Rinda. 

A Red Corner Notice was also issued against Rinda by Interpol. The home ministry further said Rinda is also involved in cross-border smuggling of arms, ammunition and militant hardware, besides drugs on a large scale. 

He (Rinda) was involved in various criminal offences as well like murder, attempt to murder, contract killing, robbery and extortion in Punjab, Maharashtra, Haryana, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, the ministry said. 

Rinda is now the 54th individual to be designated as a terrorist by the government. 

Last month, the central government had banned two proxy organisations the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad and declared four individuals as terrorists. On January 5, The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba, was declared a banned group. 

Last year in November media reports emerged that Rinda, who has been named in at least 10 terror-related cases in Punjab, died in a hospital in Pakistan’s Lahore. 

“Though the exact reason behind his death is not known yet, the information we are getting from the central agencies is that Rinda, a heroin addict, was undergoing treatment for a drug overdose at a hospital,” the top state police official had said on condition of anonymity, terming Rinda’s death reports as a “huge relief” for Punjab. 

However, in December last year, Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav, in a media interaction, said there was “no authentic input” regarding gangster-turned-terrorist Rinda dying in Pakistan. 

KTF is a militant outfit and it aims to revive terrorism in Punjab and challenges the territorial integrity, unity, national security and sovereignty of India and promotes various acts of terrorism, including targeted killings in Punjab. With the declaration of KTF as terrorist organization, there are now a total of 44 designated terrorist organizations under the Ist Schedule of the Act. 

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/mha-bans-khalistan-tiger-force-declares-rinda-as-terrorist-101676654389502.html