KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
27-Aug-2009
Police detained several people from Patiala, Bathinda, Moga and Malout for suspected links with Balbir Singh Bhutna. The person who was picked up from Malout is stated to have purchased a .32 bore revolver from the accused. Bhutna, a Khalistani terrorist, is believed to have been involved in the recent murder of Lily Sharma, a Dera Sacha Sauda (a group regarded as 'heretic' by orthodox Sikhs) follower, in Mansa.
27-Aug-2009
Police in Ludhiana, arrested a suspected militant, identified as Daljit Singh Bittu for allegedly plotting to kill Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son Sukhbir Singh Badal. Bittu, who was involved in the Khalistan movement of the 1980s, was arrested from his house following information provided by arrested terrorist Balbir Singh Bhutna, Police said. Bhutna, who is suspected of links with militant outfits KCF and BKI, was arrested at Ludhiana railway station on August 25 after an encounter in which one person was killed and two policemen were seriously injured. During the investigation, Bhutna had revealed that they had plans to kill the Punjab Chief Minister and his son, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister of the State. Bittu is president of the Akali Dal (Amritsar- Panjpradhani), a party which he floated after his release from prison. Bittu was also associated with Simranjit Singh Mann's SAD (A) but had later formed his party - SAD (Panch Pardhani).
15-Aug-2009
The BSF personnel arrested four Pakistani intruders who were trying to enter India through the Tarn Taran District of Punjab. Two kilograms of heroin, two pistols, two Pakistani mobiles, and Pakistani currency notes were recovered from their possession.
02-Aug-2009
A suspected woman agent of the Pakistan’s ISI, identified as Savinder Kaur, was arrested along with fake Indian currency having a face value of INR 480000 from Amritsar.
20-Apr-2009
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has alerted the State to take adequate measures in coordination with central intelligence and security agencies to foil any such attempts. Agencies believed that Wadhwa Singh continues to be a vital link between terrorists in other countries and some radical elements in the Sikh community in Punjab. Wadhwa Singh, hiding in Pakistan, is one of the 40 most-wanted terrorists India has sought to be deported from Pakistan.
18-Mar-2009
The Punjab Police neutralized an ISI-sponsored espionage ring with the arrest of four persons, including two of them with a terrorist background. The arrestees were identified as Naib Singh, Baldev Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Randhir Singh, all residents of different villages in the Faridkot District. Naib Singh and Baldev Singh have a terrorist background and several cases were registered against them, a Punjab Police spokesman said. Sensitive documents relating to important military installations, photographs, charts, movements of military units, diaries containing Pakistani telephone numbers and mobile phones and fake currency of the face value of INR 20,000 were seized from the possession of the arrested persons.
31-Oct-2008
Patiala Police arrested three terrorists, linked to Paramjit Singh Panjwar of KCF in Pakistan, from an unspecified place. They were identified as Didar Singh alias Dari, Bahal Singh alias Bala and Ajmer Singh. A motorcycle, a 9-mm pistol, and some live cartridges along with 200 grams of smack were recovered from their possession. They were reportedly involved in several killings in Punjab in recent years.
23-Oct-2008
Two BKI cadres, identified as Paramjit Singh and Kamaljit Singh, were convicted and sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment by a special court for the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, in Chandigarh. The duo, described as human bombs in the Police charge sheet, had reportedly had planned to revive terrorism and had been trained by BKI head, Jagtar Singh Hawara.
25-Sep-2008
Security Forces arrested a Rashtriya Rifles (RR) personnel identified as Ranjeet Singh for his suspected links with the KZF when he was fleeing from his unit at Baramulla in Kashmir valley along with two AK-47 rifles in Banihal town on Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
11-Jun-2008
The Punjab Police claimed to have arrested a woman agent of the Pakistani external intelligence agency, ISI from Jagroan village near Ludhiana. Police said the woman, identified as Ranjeet Kaur, was working as a messenger of the ISI and was sending the message of the ISI to the terrorists operating in India. She was providing them financial support as well.
20-Mar-2008
The Delhi Police claimed to have arrested two BKI militants, identified as Jaswant Singh alias Kala and Surender Singh alias Fauji from near the Sutlej bridge in Jalandhar in Punjab, in a follow-up to the December 31, 2007-arrest of four BKI militants. One.30 Star make pistol and one .22 Star made pistol with 11 live cartridges were recovered from them.
11-Mar-2008
According to Intelligence sources, Pakistan’s ISI is making serious attempts to revive Sikh militancy in India by coordinating and establishing linkages among various terrorist outfits with the Sikh extremist leaders. The ISI activities to this extent have been planned from countries like the US, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Norway, and Belgium, besides Pakistan in the absence of ground support in India. The various terror groups have established nexus among themselves in terms of financial and logistical support, sharing of information and tactical planning. An intelligence input indicated that representatives of BKI, ISYF and LeT met in Berlin on June 2007 and decided that financial support would be extended to the LeT and logistical support to the BKI to carry out terrorist actions in India. Another input indicated that Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) had got in touch with a UK-based organization, Parliamentarians for National Self-Determination (PNSD) for modelling their ‘position paper’ on the pattern of the ‘Sikh Position Paper’.
05-Mar-2008
In a letter to the guardians of Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said die-hard separatists were receiving support from sympathizers living overseas. "The government and our agencies have credible information of efforts being made by extremist groups to revive militancy in Punjab," the premier said in the letter. "Much of this is concentrated in countries abroad like the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and especially Pakistan, where such groups receive a great deal of encouragement from remnants of extremist groups as well as support from other hostile forces," he wrote. Singh was responding to an appeal for a review of an official "blacklist" of most-wanted insurgents who fled India at the peak of the insurgency in Punjab.
15-Feb-2008
Three KZF militants were sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment by a court in the national capital New Delhi for a bomb blast in the Kailash Hotel in the Paharganj area on March 13, 2000, in which three persons were wounded. The court sentenced the KZF militants, Sukhdev Singh, Satbir Singh, and Purushottam Singh, after holding them guilty for entering into a conspiracy to wage war against the country.
13-Feb-2008
The BKI militants, arrested in connection with the bomb blast at a cinema hall in Ludhiana in Punjab on October 14, 2007, have told the investigators that they had approached the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) for the supply of arms and ammunition. During their interrogation, the militants also told that few Sikh youths had been tasked to kill political leaders including Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir, President of the All India Anti-Terrorist Front M. S. Bitta and former State Director General of Police K P. S. Gill. These youths were being trained by Pakistan's external intelligence agency, the ISI, in the handling of arms and ammunition including fabricating of improvised explosive devices.
04-Feb-2008
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Patiala awarded life sentences to three hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 to Kandahar in Afghanistan on December 24, 1999. Judge Inderjit Singh Walia sentenced the three, Abdul Latif, Dalip Kumar and Yusuf Nepali, on charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and wrongful confinement of passengers, forging documents.
16-Jan-2008
The police in Ludhiana arrested Mohammed Ali alias Alia for allegedly supplying RDX to the proscribed BKI militants to disrupt Punjab.
10-Jan-2008
The DGP in Punjab, N. P. S. Aulakh, said that Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, the ISI, is behind the regrouping of Babbar Khalsa militant group in Punjab. He claimed that Babbar Khalsa engineered the Ludhiana bomb blast in October 2007 and had planned the elimination of the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, Baba Bhaniarewala and certain other heads of religious sects operating in Punjab. The DGP further said that Babbar Khalsa operatives arrested by Ludhiana police have revealed that they got arms training in Pakistan. He said that the police has identified a new terrorist group in the name of the International Liberation Revolutionary Force (ILRF) working in the Malwa region and arrested all the six persons behind the formation of this outfit along with one AK 47 rifle and other weapons.
04-Jan-2008
The Delhi Police claimed to have foiled an attempt to kill Baba Pyara Singh Paniharewala, a Ropar-based religious leader, with the arrest of four alleged BKI terrorists. On the hit list of the terrorists were four other prominent personalities of Punjab, the police said. Four pistols and 124 live cartridges were allegedly seized from their possession.
25-Dec-2007
Three suspected Babar Khalsa militants were arrested from Bihar on the India-Nepal border for their alleged role in the October 2007 bomb blast in Ludhiana that claimed six lives. Two of the three were identified as Gurpreet Singh and Sandeep and were arrested while they were attempting to flee into Nepal, official sources said.
22-Dec-2007
The BKI threatened to blow up vital installations and security establishments in the State. The BKI ‘regional commander (North East)’ Balwinder Singh in an e-mail statement sent to a local English daily stated, "By the end of this month (December), we are going to explode (blast) bombs in Shillong city to take revenge on Khasi Students’ Union for committing atrocities on Punjabis residing in Sweepers Colony (Punjabi Colony) in Lewduh in previous years and for India's oppression on us."
13-Dec-2007
Punjab Police foiled an attempt by BKI terrorists to assassinate the Sirsa-based Sacha Sauda (a sect) chief, Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh, and heads of two other sects. The Senior Superintendent of Police (Kapurthala), Rakesh Aggarwal, informed that three members of the BKI module, identified as Gurinder Singh, Zorawar Singh alias Zora and Parminder Singh alias Babloo, were arrested and two Improvised Explosive Devices assembled by using 9.75 kg high-quality RDX recovered. The police also seized 300 grams of RDX, two detonators, two timers, 40 cartridges of different bores, four boxes of other explosive material, two kg of copper wire and two mobile phones along with several other articles. Aggarwal disclosed that 12 other BKI gang members, including its kingpin Gurpreet Singh, were still at large.
22-Oct-2007
Punjab Police announced a reward of INR 100,000 for anyone providing information on the bomb blast at the Shringar Cinema in Ludhiana on October 14. DIG of Police (Ludhiana Range) Ishwar Singh said, "The name of the person/persons giving the clue would be kept a closely guarded secret."
16-Oct-2007
The Punjab Police claimed to have got some "vital clues" to the October 14 Ludhiana cinema bomb blast. The Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order), Chandrashekhar, said, "We have got vital clues." He, however, said that revealing the details would hamper investigations. Chandrashekhar further said, "The situation is still unclear about the kind of explosives and chemicals used to trigger the blast."
13-Oct-2007
Seven persons, including a 10-year-old child, were killed and 40 others injured in an explosion inside a cinema hall in Ludhiana. Eyewitnesses said that there were two blasts in succession. The victims were identified as migrants from other states who were watching a Bhojpuri language film at the Shringaar Cinema. DIG of Police (Ludhiana Range), Ishwar Singh, said the bomb was placed in the first three rows of seats. Punjab Police chief N.P.S. Aulakh informed that from the preliminary investigations, it appeared to be the handiwork of some terrorist group.
31-Jul-2007
The Additional District and Sessions Judge in Chandigarh awarded death sentence to Jagtar Singh Hawara of the BKI and Balwant Singh, two of the six declared guilty in the Beant Singh assassination case. Three other convicts, Gurmeet, Lakhwinder and Shamsher Singh, were awarded life imprisonment for their involvement in the criminal conspiracy, while the sixth convict, Naseeb Singh, was given 10 years of imprisonment under the Explosives Act along with a fine of INR 10,000.
28-Jul-2007
Six persons out of a group of nine accused in the assassination case of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh were found guilty by the Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ) Ravi Kumar Sondhi. Jagtar Singh Hawara, Shamsher Singh, Lakhwinder Singh, Balwant Singh, and Gurmeet Singh were held guilty on charges of murder, attempt to murder, abetment to suicide, criminal conspiracy and under sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Explosives Act. Nasib Singh was held guilty only under Section 5 of the Explosives Act. Nasib Singh who was also accused of murder, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy and abetment to suicide, was acquitted owing to lack of evidence.
15-Jun-2007
Punjab police claimed to have foiled an attempt of some terrorist groups to reorganize their base and create terror in Punjab by killing some high profile religious and political leaders. General secretary of the Shiromani Akali Dal’s youth wing in Rupnagar district, Swaranjeet Singh alias Bobby of Bahadarpur, and a Bhindranwale Tigers Force militant Gurcharan Singh alias Kala of Bawani village were arrested. Bobby and Kala had planned to assassinate religious leader Baba Piara Singh Bhaniarawale and to achieve this plan, they had formed the Khalsa Action Committee, in which they were recruiting like-minded persons. A .455 bore US-made 1950-model sophisticated pistol, a.30 bore revolver, its 5 live cartridges, and 2 live grenades were recovered from the duo.
11-Jun-2007
Gurdip Singh Rana, a Babbar Khalsa militant was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after being convicted under the Arms Act at Kurukshetra in the Haryana State. Wanted by the Punjab Police, Rana, who was hiding in the Sujra village of Kurukshetra district, was arrested on October 17, 2005.
07-Jun-2007
The court of District and Sessions Judge in Fatehgarh Sahib stayed the arrest of Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) senior vice president Daljit Singh Bittu till June 12. Bittu had been booked by Punjab government in case of sedition for raising slogans of Khalistan during protests against the Dera Sacha Sauda.
06-Jun-2007
Representatives of various radical Sikh organizations, including the Dal Khalsa, assembled at the Akal Takht to pay homage to the militants killed during Operation Blue Star in June 1984. The Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Joginder Singh Vedanti, honored the kin of the militants, including Baba Isher Singh, the son of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Vedanti described Operation Blue Star as the 'Genocide of the Sikhs'. The hardliners also displayed banners of Khalistan in front of Akal Takht.
06-Jun-2007
Punjab Police is reported to have traced the main conspirators of the May 22, 2005-bomb blasts in New Delhi, alleged to be members of the pro-Khalistan outfit, BKI, in Germany. The police said it had moved an application before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Seema Maini in New Delhi for issuance of letters rogatory seeking information about the suspects from the German authorities, which was granted by the court. The letters rogatory seek information about Satnaam Singh, son-in-law of Babbar Khalsa chief Wadhwa Singh, his wife Sukhwinder Kaur and another woman identified as Kanwaljit Kaur.
31-May-2007
The Fatehgarh Sahib police registered a 'sedition case' against Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) senior vice president Daljit Singh Bittu and others on the statement of Fatehgarh Sahib Station House Officer Darshan Singh. It was alleged in the FIR that Bittu and his colleagues came in front of a bus and stopped it and raised slogans of 'Khalistan Zindabad', 'Sant Jarnail Singh Bhinderwale Zindabad', 'Sant Bhinderawale Teri Souch Te Pehra Devange Thok Ke' and used the words traitors against the members of 11 members of committee sitting in bus, which was going to submit a memorandum to the Governor against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief.
02-May-2007
Intelligence agencies said that the Pakistan-based LeT and the ISI, Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, are trying to revive militancy in the Indian State of Punjab through sympathizers of the Sikh militant groups like the BKI, the ISYF, KZF, and KCF. The information has been sent to the Punjab Police about the plans to target towns of Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Pathankot region. Instructions have also been given to monitor the activities of sympathizers of BKI-Hawara, ISYF-Rode, KZF- Neeta, and KCF, who are sending funds through hawala to "re-launch their separatist movement".
14-Apr-2007
Balbir Singh alias Beera, a Pakistan-trained terrorist, was arrested from his native Chak Thaliwal village in Ferozepore district. He was wanted in a case under the Explosives Act registered against him and others on December 2006. Cases of terrorism, murder, and kidnapping for ransom are also pending against him. He was part of the gang of Paramjit Singh Dhadi, a terrorist who was arrested on December 2006.
02-Mar-2007
Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal was sworn in as Punjab Chief Minister for the fourth time.
27-Feb-2007
The Congress party was voted out of power in the Legislative Assembly elections as the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine returned to power with a clear majority. The SAD-BJP alliance won 71 of the 117 seats in the Assembly with Akali Dal itself winning 48 seats. The BJP won 19 of the 23 seats it contested. Congress, which had won 62 seats in 2002, secured 44 seats.
13-Feb-2007
An estimated 71.97 percent of 1.66 crore voters exercised their franchise for the Legislative Assembly elections which passed off peacefully barring minor incidents.
01-Feb-2007
Punjab Police Chief S. S. Virk said the crime rate in respect of murder, rape, and kidnapping has increased in the State due to rising unemployment and the spread of urbanization. The crime rate has increased by about 20 percent, he said while giving figures which showed murder cases increasing to 852 in 2006 against 743 in 2005. Virk also stated undercurrents of terrorism still prevailed in Punjab, while few terrorists or militants were arrested who were active during the phase of terrorism in the State in the 1980s and early 1990s.
24-Dec-2006
Three unidentified terrorists belonging to the Rode faction of ISYF were arrested from Jalandhar. Police recovered 11 kilograms of RDX, 11 detonators, four hand grenades, 11 timer devices, two pistols with four magazines, 100 live cartridges, along with a walkie-talkie set from their possession. The explosives recovered were reportedly meant for disrupting the 2007 Assembly elections in Punjab.
23-Dec-2006
The Jalandhar Police arrested Paramjit Singh Dhadi and Amolak Singh of the ISYF. Dhadi was arrested while on en route to his ancestral village Gakhal and Amolak Singh was arrested from an unspecified location along with three kilograms of RDX, a hand grenade, three detonators, and 50 cartridges.
05-Dec-2006
A Pakistani intruder was shot dead when he entered the Indian territory with a consignment of heroin worth INR 10 crore and ignored the warnings given by BSF to surrender at the Ferozepur sector of the India-Pakistan border of Punjab region.
18-Oct-2006
Nishan Singh, a terrorist belonging to the KLF, was arrested from Batala Road at Kalanaur in the Gurdaspur district. He had provided shelter to Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjeet Singh Bheora, two of the accused in the Beant Singh assassination case after their escape from Burail jail in Chandigarh. Police also claimed that the three had hatched a conspiracy to revive terrorism in Punjab and that Nishan Singh was a member of various terrorist outfits having their base abroad, including in Pakistan.
02-Jul-2006
BKI terrorist Bachan Singh Sogi, accused of plotting to assassinate the former Punjab Chief Minister, Prakash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir and former State DGP K.P.S. Gill was deported by Canada. Sogi was removed on July 2 from the Riviere des Prairies detention centre in north-end Montreal after Canada's Public Security Minister Stockwell Day rejected his plea challenging a court order.
19-Jun-2006
Satnam Singh alias Satta, a terrorist of the Pakistan-based KZF, confessed during police interrogation that he carried out the bomb blasts at the bus terminal in Jalandhar on April 24 on the instructions of the outfit’s chief Ranjit Singh Neeta.
18-Jun-2006
A KCF terrorist, Kulbir Singh Kulbeera alias Barapind, was arrested and later brought to India by a Punjab Police team on June 18 night, following his extradition from the US. Kulbeera, whose extradition to India was made possible after a nine-year legal battle, is allegedly involved in at least 20 cases ranging from mass murder and the massacre of innocents to snatching of weapons from the police, killing of police personnel and bank dacoity.
28-Apr-2006
At least 14 persons, including five women, were injured in an explosion in a bus stationed at the Jalandhar bus stop. The bus was on its way to Hoshiarpur from Amritsar.
21-Mar-2006
Four BKI terrorists, identified as Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukhi alias Bullet, Dilbagh Singh, Ranjit Singh and Balbir Singh alias Nepaliwere arrested from Chandigarh in Punjab and one kilogram of RDX, arms, and ammunition were seized from their possession. Chandigarh Police arrested the four from the Bus Stand in Sector 12 of the city. During preliminary interrogation, the arrested persons disclosed that they were part of the BKI module controlled by Jagtar Singh Tara.
20-Mar-2006
Paramjeet Singh Bheora, 'head of operations' of the BKI in India, and two of his accomplices, while planning to set up base in Delhi, were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police near G T Karnal road. Four kilograms of RDX, three detonators, one remote control device along with a wireless set, one-timer, three pistols, 39 live cartridges, and three fired cartridges are recovered from them.
10-Jan-2006
Police recovered 114 grenades, mostly rusted, from a construction site in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. The devices were buried by Khalistani militants during the 1984 ‘Operation Blue Star’ period. Dalmegh Singh, secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, said the devices were noticed when labourers were digging the earth for laying the foundation for an administrative block.