KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
19-Jan-2020
The misuse of drones by smugglers at the international border to fetch drug consignments has emerged as a major security threat in Punjab, says report. According to security sources, the easy availability of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) or drones has become a headache for the security agencies in Punjab. Police officials said that even though there were a number of regulations regarding the operation of drones, these were hardly being followed. The first incident of drone was reported in October 2019 when the Punjab Police arrested several Khalistani extremists who got sophisticated weapons from their handlers in Pakistan through drones. Recently, Amritsar rural police busted a drug cartel involving a soldier who was sneaking in drug consignments with the help of drones.
17-Jan-2020
The BSF recovered 22 packets comprising around 22 kg heroin, 90 rounds and two magazines of ammunition, WiFi connectors, two smartphones, a normal phone and a pipe from the Border Out Post (BOP) at Chontra in Gurdaspur sector in Punjab. According to sources, troops saw some movement near the fencing at Chontra post and opened fire, after which some smugglers ran towards the Pakistani side.
17-Jan-2020
A military deserter,Harpreet Singh (25) who recently escaped from Police custody from a hospital in Hoshiarpur, was arrested in Connaught Place in New Delhi. Earlier, Harpreet Singh had tricked police guards by making an excuse of going to the washroom and escaped from a civil hospital in Hoshiarpur by scaling its wall on January 14. Singh, who was a sepoy in the Indian Army, is facing charges for stealing two INSAS rifles and ammunition from the army's training institute in Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh.
17-Jan-2020
The BSF recovered six packets comprising 12.5 kg heroin, a China-made pistol with one magazine and nine rounds from BOP Rajatal in Amritsar sector in Punjab. BSF DIG Bhupinder Singh said, “When the jawans began to reach for their guns, the men on the other side threw what they were carrying and fled.”
17-Jan-2020
The BSF seized around 6 kg heroin from the BOP Rajoke in Tarn Taran district of Punjab. They also recovered US currency amounting to around 3 lakh rupees during a search after miscreants fled.
16-Jan-2020
The investigation into the recently busted narco-terror module has revealed that the Indian Army soldier,Naik Rahul Chohan, arrested along with two others with drones last week, was introduced to the smugglers at the International Border by their Pakistan-based handlers. Rahul Chohan contacted Dharminder Singh, a resident of border village Dhanoe Khurd, through Pak smugglers and in July 2019, the two allegedly started smuggling drugs using drones. They made several sorties in July and August. Though they stopped their activity for a month after the terror module busted in October, they resumed their activities in December.
15-Jan-2020
A Pakistani drone entered near Indian border at Channa Pattanam near Ajnala sector in Amritsar in Punjab. According to sources, after hearing the sound of a drone, the BSF fired around 100 rounds of bullets, though they couldn’t find the drone due to the dense of fog in the area.
14-Jan-2020
Senior officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) are looking at intelligence reports of rising incidents of weapons being pushed into India by Pakistan to aid Khalistani militants. According to sources, the probe into weapons smuggling began late last year (2019) after a Khalistani module was busted in Ludhiana in Punjab. Sources said that based on the interrogation reports of the two suspects - a woman who worked as a nurse in Faridkot and a man who used to work as a driver in Dubai - who were arrested in Ludhiana in November 2019, and additional intel inputs, senior officials at the UMHA have understood that large cache of weapons have been pushed inwards through some routes in Haryana and Rajasthan. It also added that the Pakistani handlers who are abetting the revival of Khalistani movement in the country have met some senior members of proscribed outfits - Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) in Pakistan recently.
14-Jan-2020
An army deserter, Harpreet Singh (25) who is accused of stealing rifles and ammunition from an army institute in Madhya Pradesh, managed to escape from the Police custody at the civil hospital in Hoshiarpur in Punjab where he was undergoing treatment for injuries. Harpreet was arrested from Tanda town on December 9, 2019 along with Jagtar Singh, the son of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) militant Harbhajan Singh. He was admitted to the civil hospital on December 31 with a fractured arm.
14-Jan-2020
The Amritsar (Rural) police identified six more suspects of the narco-terror module that was busted on January 10. According to Police, six persons, all belong to Punjab, were getting heroin supply from the arrested members of the module.
13-Jan-2020
A drone from Pakistan was spotted at Indo-Pak border in the Indian air space at Tendiwala village in Ferozepur district on January 13 night. A senior official said that, “The drone was seen for 4-5 minutes. BSF personnel tried to shoot it down but could not do so. Then, it disappeared.”
13-Jan-2020
According to officials, Punjab Police has constituted five teams to keep an eye on smuggling of drugs and weapons by drones from Pakistan. Among the five teams, one team will solely be dedicated to handle cyber crime, two teams will keep a tab on the movement of narcotics and smugglers from other states into Punjab and two other dedicated teams would track criminals by their social media activity. All the five teams will work in tandem to make arrests.The new teams were formed in the wake of the recent seizure of two Chinese-made drones used to fly into Pakistan to pick drugs and fly back and arrests of five drug smugglers.
12-Jan-2020
Bengaluru Police arrested an alleged Khalistan supporter, Jarnail Singh Sidhu, who had fled Punjab and was hiding in the city, from Sampigehalli Police Station limits in north-eastern Bengaluru in Karnataka. Police sources said that "The Punjab police had approached us about Jarnail Singh, who was wanted by them. We traced him and handed him over to the Punjab police.” According to Central Crime Branch police, he was residing in Bengaluru for the last six months and is also allegedly in touch with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Police said he was living in a paying guest accommodation and was working in a private firm.
12-Jan-2020
According to reports, Punjab arms and drug smugglers are now sourcing the high-end GPS fitted drones from the free classified websites like OLX for the cross-border smuggling of weapons and drugs. During an interrogation, the Army man, Rahul Chauhan, who was arrested along with two Amritsar-based drug smugglers, told the Punjab Police that he had purchased and sold one drone at OLX. Earlier, the modus operandi of smuggling weapons and narcotics using drones had come to light when the police busted a Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terror module in September 2019.
12-Jan-2020
According to report, Police has identified four more members of the narco-terror module busted by the Amritsar rural police four days ago, after the interrogation of the three arrested drug smugglers, including an Army man. Among the four suspects were two jail inmates who had been operating from the high-security prison in the city. The two jail inmates are believed to be accomplices of Balkar Singh, the kingpin of the nexus, who was a convict in an NDPS case and was undergoing 10-year imprisonment in Amritsar Central Jail.
11-Jan-2020
The three accused belonging to a narco-terror module busted by the Punjab Police on January 10 were sent to three-day police remand by a local court.
10-Jan-2020
The Punjab Police busted a narco-terror module, which flew drones from Amritsar to Pakistan to fetch drugs in the last few days, by arresting three persons, including an Indian Army soldier and an expert drone operator. The arrestees were identified as Dharminder Singh of Dhanoa Khurd village (Amritsar), Balkar Singh of Kalas village (Amritsar), and Rahul Chauhan of Pooja Vihar in Ambala (Haryana). DGP Dinkar Gupta said that the gang carried out multiple sorties before it was busted by the state police. He also said that they had recovered two highly sophisticated Chinese drones, belonging to the narco-terror module, involved in the smuggling of weapons and narcotics from across the border. “The seizure includes drone batteries, custom-made drone containers, two walkie-talkie sets, Rs 6.22 lakh, believed to be proceeds of drugs, and a magazine of an INSAS rifle. The drones, capable of travelling 2-3 km, were reportedly being launched from the Indian side to fly into Pakistan to pick up narcotics. The accused had apparently already conducted four-five sorties,” said Gupta.
10-Jan-2020
An Amritsar court awarded 12-year rigorous imprisonment to gangster Jagdeep Singh alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria in a case involving peddling of drugs and attacking a police party in July 2015. However, six of his accomplices were acquitted in the case by the court. Bhagwanpuria, who is currently lodged in the Patiala jail, is facing trial in 30 criminal cases such as murder, attempt to murder and extortion.
10-Jan-2020
The Dal Khalsa and Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) called for a complete shutdown in Punjab on the occasion of India’s 70th Republic day. The head of SAD (Amritsar), Simranjit Singh Mann and the chief of Dal Khalsa, Harpal Singh Cheema, in a joint press conference, stated that, “Punjab will remain shut on January 25 (January 26 being a Sunday) to register its protest against Sangh’s agenda of Hindu rashtra and to reiterate that Punjab won’t be part of the theocratic Hindu state”. They declared that the shutdown would be verdict on fascists and divisive policies and decisions of Narendra Modi government.
09-Jan-2020
The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act [UAPA] tribunal headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D N Patel upheld the Central Government's ban on pro-Khalistan group, Sikhs For Justice (SFJ). The tribunal observed that it was clear from the evidence on record that activities of the group were ‘unlawful’, ‘disruptive’ and ‘threaten the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India’. Justice Patel said that the evidence proves that SFJ was "working in collusion with anti-India entities and forces… Thus, the Central Government had sufficient cause to take action under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for declaring Sikhs For Justice as an unlawful association.” Earlier, the Central Government on July 10, 2019 had declared SFJ as an unlawful association and had banned it for five years.
09-Jan-2020
The Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said that the ban on the SFJ was good news for Punjab, where it had been fishing for young and gullible youth, and radicalising them. He said, "With the SFJ being declared as an unlawful association, people will not fall prey to their objective of radicalising youth and unleashing violence in the state.”
09-Jan-2020
Acting Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Harpreet Singh stated that the Pakistan government must deliver justice to the family of the Sikh youth murdered in Peshawar. The Jathedar, in a statement, said that “It is unfortunate that local police have not arrested the killers of the youth. The Pakistan government should step in to ensure justice so that minorities of Pakistan feel safe and they should ensure that no such incident takes place again.”
09-Jan-2020
India said that the Nankana Sahib attack on Sikhs and murder of a member from that 'minority' community should work as 'mirror' for Pakistan and its Prime Minister Imran Khan. MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar said that "A country that cannot take care of its minorities should not tell other countries how to do it. It is not for us to comment every time they say something. Pakistan should focus on ensuring safety and security of the minorities there."
09-Jan-2020
The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while interacting with expatriate Indians on the occasion of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, said that the government is committed to ensuring that perpetrators of atrocities during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots are brought to justice. To a question regarding misconceptions about the Sikh community abroad, the minister said that among the Indian communities abroad, Sikhs have been the foremost in shaping the brand and image of India.
08-Jan-2020
Police arrested three persons along with 45 gram of heroin in separate incidents in Jalandhar. The arrestees, identified as Satnam Singh alias Satta (21), and mother-son duo Kishan Singh (21) and Paramjit Kaur (35), are residents of villages falling under the Subhanpur police station in Kapurthala district. A case under Sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act was registered against them.
07-Jan-2020
Sikh activists belonging to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Sant Samaj took out a protest march in Phagwara in Kapurthala district against the mob attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and stone-pelting on Sikh pilgrims in Pakistan.
06-Jan-2020
An SGPC delegation, led by Gobind Singh Longowal, met Balwant Singh Rajoana - who is facing death sentence for assassinating former CM Beant Singh - in a separate room and clicked pictures with him inside the Central Jail in Patiala. According to reports, the five-member delegation spent almost an hour with the convict inside the jail. Earlier, Rajoana had announced to go on an indefinite strike from January 11 against the pendency of his mercy plea with the Centre.
06-Jan-2020
The Akal Takht officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh condemned the violent incidents in Pakistan and called upon the global Sikh community to unite against such assaults. Over the mob attack on Gurdwara Janam Asthan at Nankana Sahib and the killing of a Sikh youth in Peshawar, Giani Harpreet Singh said such incidents had instilled a sense of insecurity among the Sikh community in Pakistan.
06-Jan-2020
India summoned the senior-most Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner Syed Haider Shah in New Delhi to lodge a strong protest over incidents targeting Sikh minority in Pakistan and to demand immediate action against the perpetrators of such ‘heinous acts’.
06-Jan-2020
The Akal Takht acting Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh and parallel acting Jathedar Dhian Singh Mand came face to face at a function organised to felicitate kin of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassins in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The incident took place when acting Jathedar was felicitating Waryam Singh and Baltej Singh, brother and nephew of Satwant Singh, one of the assassins of Indira Gandhi. As Giani Harpreet Singh began to offer ‘siropa’ (robe of honour) to them, Jarnail Singh Sakhira, Mand’s aide, dubbed him ‘sarkari jathedar’ loudly and walked out of the gurdwara along with parallel Jathedar in protest.
05-Jan-2020
A Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) delegation, led by its president Sukhbir Badal, urged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to seek a categorical assurance from Pakistan that those responsible for a "hate attack" on Sikhs as well as the stoning of Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib would be given an "exemplary punishment." Sukhbir Badal also urged the Minister to raise the issue of atrocities being committed by Pakistan against minorities in the United Nations (UN).
05-Jan-2020
India condemned the ‘targeted’ killing of a Sikh youth in Peshawar and the Ministry of External Affairs asked the Pakistan Government to ‘stop prevaricating’ and take immediate action to apprehend and award exemplary punishment to the perpetrators. The Ministry of External Affairs said Pakistan should stop "prevaricating" and take immediate action to apprehend and give exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the crime.
05-Jan-2020
The Special Task Force (STF) arrested two drug peddlers and recovered 402 gm of heroin from their possession in Ludhiana.
04-Jan-2020
Sukhbir Badal, chief of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) met the family of Khalistani terrorist Balwant Singh Rajoana, a convict in 1995 assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh and said he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue. After meeting Balwant Singh Rajoana's sister Kamaldeep Kaur at her Ludhiana home, he said that “Rajoana's death sentence ‘should be cancelled’.... Not even a single parole has been allowed to him in past 25 years... This is injustice. His death sentence should be cancelled because it is a serious matter related to the Sikh community”.
04-Jan-2020
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Gobind Singh Longowa said that, SGPC will send a four-member delegation to Pakistan to take stock of the situation following a mob attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. He said " The delegation will also meet Pakistan's Punjab Governor and Chief Minister." He also appealed to the Pakistan Government to take strict action against culprits who pelted stones.
04-Jan-2020
Indian political leaders across the spectrum condemned stone-pelting attack on Nankana Sahib in Pakistan and said it was a “shameful situation”.
04-Jan-2020
The Jalandhar Police team that had gone to Latianwal village in Kapurthala district to carry out a raid was attacked by villagers. Latianwal is among the several villages falling in the notorious drug belt of Kapurthala. Kapurthala SSP Satinder Singh said that “We have booked 11 persons of the village and raids are on to arrest them. As of now, they are absconding.”
03-Jan-2020
India strongly condemned the attack at Nankana Sahib Gurudwara in Pakistan and asked Pakistan Government to take "immediate steps" to ensure the safety, security and welfare of members of the Sikh community.
03-Jan-2020
Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh appealed to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for his immediate intervention to ensure the safety of devotees stranded in Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. He also asked Imran Khan to save the historic Gurdwara from the angry mob.
02-Jan-2020
The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) criticized Pakistan’s decision to deny entry to non-Sikh visitors to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan, for three days in January. Earlier Pakistan has decided not to allow the entry of non-Sikhs to the shrine, from January 3 to January 5, during the birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh who is the tenth and last of the Sikh Gurus.
01-Jan-2020
One person, identified as Bhalwan Singh was arrested along with five kilograms of heroin and two pistols and 10 live cartridges at the Amritsar-Jalandhar national highway in Amritsar. The accused was produced in a local court which sent him to police remand till January 6.
01-Jan-2020
The Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Dinkar Gupta in an interview said that “We have been fortunate that 2019 has gone without any terror crime.” However, he cautioned that “It is difficult to say what the future holds for us, but when you are dealing with a neighbour like Pakistan, there will be attempts to foment trouble in Punjab. So, we have to be always vigilant.” He also said that “the SFJ tirade, however, has no resonance in Punjab. Some see it as a bogey created by security agencies.”
01-Jan-2020
Regarding the “Referendum2020” campaign the DGP, Dinkar Gupta said, “It has no takers here. SFJ has been banned by the government of India and its chief protagonist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has been declared proclaimed offender in a few cases. The only worrying part is that they are beguiling and trying to provoke the youth to commit violence which is not a good sign. It vitiates the peace.”
31-Dec-2019
21 more villages in Punjab’s Nawanshahr district were declared drug-free on the eve on the New Year, while 50 of total 71 villages were declared drug-free a few months back. Nawanshahr district of the Doaba region has taken a lead in the crusade against drugs launched by the state government, while Hoshiarpur district is in the second in the list with 37 villages. According to the government information, Nawanshahr has identified 71 villages out of its total 466 villages (15 per cent) which are totally drug-free and there was no case registered under NDPS Act and also no drug recovery was made from any resident of such villages. Additionally, there are no addicts in these villages, as per the government’s information.
30-Dec-2019
The SGPC condemned booking of Sikh devotees by UP Police for allegedly defying prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPc) by taking out a religious procession from Kiratpur Gurudwara in Pilibhit’s Kheri Naubaramad village to commemorate Shahidi Diwas (martyrdom of the sons of Guru Gobind Singh) on December 29 afternoon.
30-Dec-2019
The SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said that a delegation would meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah soon and urge him to implement a Ministry of Home Affairs’ decision of commuting Rajoana’s death sentence and release him from jail. Longowal said that SGPC was committed to Rajoana’s release. “We have plans to meet Rajoana before January 11. I appeal to him to take back his decision of going on a fast in protest,” he said.
30-Dec-2019
BSF seized 10 packets containing 5.19 kg heroin which was buried in an agricultural field near the fence at Ghatti Maste border out post (BoP) under Ferozepur sector in Punjab. However, suspected smugglers managed to flee the spot taking advantage of dense fog.
29-Dec-2019
The STF’s Ludhiana unit arrested a 34-year-old man, Sanjay Das along with 230 gm heroin - worth Rs 1.25 crore at a checkpoint near Transport Nagar in Ludhiana.
27-Dec-2019
Police arrested five drug peddlers and recovered 1.5 kg heroin and 4.5 kg opium from them in three different cases in Jalandhar district. Cases under the NDPS Act were registered against the accused at Kartarpur, Nakodar Sadar and Bhogpur police stations.
27-Dec-2019
Due to the foggy weather conditions in Punjab, BSF has intensified its patrolling along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab to prevent activities of sneaking narcotics, arms and ammunition into the Indian territory.