KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
31-Oct-2022
Inspector General of Police (Headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill on October 31 said that Punjab Police have arrested 6,997 drug smugglers since July 5 and the police have registered a total of 5,346 first information reports (FIRs) of which 580 are related to seizure of commercial quantity of drugs. According to him, police teams had recovered 259.7 kg heroin from across the state after carrying out cordon and search operations in drug-affected areas besides laying nakas at vulnerable routes across the state. Additionally, 147.5 kg heroin was recovered by the teams of Punjab Police from seaports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, taking the total effective recovery of heroin to 406.5 kg in just four months, he said.
31-Oct-2022
The Dal Khalsa has announced that it will observe 38 years of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots by organizing a ‘march’ in Kapurthala on November 3. The Dal Khalsa leaders said that the march will highlight the state-sponsored violence unleashed on Sikhs in November 1984 in Delhi and other states, the role of leaders in engineering the carnage, the mockery of justice and the failure of the United Nations in holding this country accountable for the killings. The leaders also urged the SGPC to make pictures and paintings depicting the 1984 November horrendous event part of the Central Sikh Museum.
31-Oct-2022
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) has awarded the 16-member team of Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF), Punjab with the “Union Home Minister’s Special Operation Medal” for the year 2022. The awardees include the AGTF chief ADGP Promod Ban and his team members. Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav, while congratulating the AGTF Team, expressed gratitude to the UMHA for recognizing the services of these officers. “This recognition will boost the morale of the entire Punjab Police force and encourage them to work with more dedication and devotion,” he said.
28-Oct-2022
A drone was spotted by the Border Security Force (BSF) coming from the Pakistan side along the International Border (IB) near Joginder Border Outpost (BOP) in Ferozepur District on the intervening night of October 28 and October 29. Reportedly, the BSF troops fired almost 18 rounds towards the drone with INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) assault rifles but it managed to return to Pakistan.
20-Oct-2022
The Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) in a joint operation with the Delhi Police, arrested three operatives of a terrorist module and recovered one AK-47 assault rifle and three pistols along with ammunition from their possession from a hotel at Ghee Mandi area in Amritsar District on October 20. The arrested operatives were identified as Balraj Singh of Bhikhiwind in Tarn Taran, Aatish Kumar and Avinash Kumar, both residents of village Sarhali Kalan in Tarn Taran. All three accused were working as security guards at a Tile Factory in Gujarat. Few days earlier the Delhi Police had arrested Harminder Singh of Kot Isse Khan in Moga District who revealed that he had picked a consignment of one AK-47 and three pistols on the directions of Landa and handed it over to Balraj, Aatish and Avinash.
14-Oct-2022
The Border Security Force (BSF) troops shot down a drone that entered India in Gurdaspur sector in Gurdaspur District of Punjab from the Pakistan side on the International Border (IB) in the early hours on October 14. A senior BSF officer said that the drone was spotted at 4.35 am by BSF troops on patrolling duty. They immediately opened fire and it was shot down.
10-Oct-2022
According to the Police Punjab, they have busted five terrorist modules in the State and also arrested 17 terrorists in the last 10 days. The Police have also recovered four rifles including AKs/MP-9/MP-5 and 25 revolvers/pistols from their possession. Apart from this, the Police teams have also recovered three hand grenades and one Improvised Explosive Device (IED), said a Police official.
24-Sep-2022
The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on September 24, filed a supplementary ‘challan’ in the designated court at Mohali District of Punjab in the case of the targeted killing of a Hindu priest by terrorists in Phillaur Tehsil (revenue unit) in Jalandhar District in January 2021. The NIA has in its charge sheet named one Gagandeep Singh alias Gaggu resident of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, who is a member of banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) led by Canada-based Hardeep Nijjar. Gaggu, on the instructions of Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh, an associate of Nijjar, extended help to other assailants in executing the plan for the targeted killing. Gaggu was the supplier of arms and ammunition to the gang members who were charge-sheeted in July 2022.
23-Sep-2022
The Punjab Police, on September 23, claimed to have busted an Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed Khalistan terror module with the arrest of its two operatives, identified as Baljit Singh Malhi (25) and Gurbaksh Singh alias Gora Sandhu, from Ferozepur District of Punjab. Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab, Gaurav Yadav said the two were considered to be close aides, who had joined hands with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), and they had ties with the ISI. The Police teams also recovered one AK-56 assault rifle along with two magazines, 90 live cartridges and two bullet shells from a location pinpointed by Gurbaksh from his village Buh Gujran in Ferozepur District.
08-Sep-2022
In a major blow to Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)-backed terror module, jointly handled by Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, and Pakistan-based gangster Harvinder Singh Rinda, the Police have arrested three of their close aides. The Police have recovered one IED containing RDX weighing 1.5 kilograms along with detonator, two pistols, eight cartridges, and a motorcycle without a registration number from their possession. The DGP said that as per preliminary investigation, it has been revealed that the accused were in direct contact with Lakhbir Landa, and were involved in extortion and cross-border smuggling of arms, explosives, and drugs on a large scale.
05-Sep-2022
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the Ludhiana court bomb blast case in Punjab has nominated Malaysia-based Harpreet Singh alias Happy Malaysia as the prime accused for the first time and announced a cash reward of INR 1 million for information on him. Earlier, a Germany-based terrorist, Jaswinder Singh Multani, had been named as a conspirator in the case, and also named in the planting of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) outside the Burail Jail, Chandigarh, on April 24 this year. Harpreet, is said to have hatched the conspiracy, provided logistics and funded the terror operation. In May this year, the NIA and Ludhiana Police arrested nine persons, including a juvenile who was an expert in generating Internet calls, in different operations. The Police had claimed the explosive device was delivered from Pakistan via a drone.
01-Sep-2022
The Amritsar rural Police arrested an interstate drug peddler along with his accomplice, identified as Gurjant Singh and Ranjit Singh Rana and seized 2-kilograms heroin and drug money to the tune of INR 493,000 from their possession in Amritsar District of Punjab on September 1. The consignment was a part of the 126-kilogram heroin which was seized by the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of the Gujarat Police from a fisherman at the Dwarka seaport in March this year.
01-Sep-2022
Police arrested Gurpinder Singh and his brother Gurtejpal Singh of Khanpur village and recovered 262 grams and 263 grams of heroin from their possession, respectively, in Amritsar District of Punjab on September 1. Also, another person, Gurcharan Singh Gora of the same village, was arrested with 80- grams heroin.
21-Aug-2022
The chief of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, released a video challenging Prime Minister (PM), Narendra Modi ahead of his visit to Mohali of Punjab on August 24. Notably, PM, Modi is all set to visit Punjab on August 24 to inaugurate the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre at Mullanpur in Mohali. However, SFJ chief Pannun released a video in which he challenged PM Modi and asked him to stay away from Punjab. In the video he also used words to insult PM Modi. Defaming Modi, Pannun also stated that biggest cancer is that of slavery in Punjab. The Indian government is giving this cancer by dissolving poison in the water of Punjab. Pannun provoked people to assemble on August 24 with holding the flag of Khalistan in hands.
11-Aug-2022
Security has been heightened at all Railway Stations across Punjab in wake of recent threats from Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the chief of banned terror outfit, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), ahead of Independence Day on August 15. An Assistant Inspector General (AIG)-level meeting was held by Government Railway Police (GRP) on August 11 with regards to security arrangements at railway stations. AIG GRP Harmeet Hundal issued directions to all officials to keep strict vigil and patrol the railway tracks and key areas under the railways’ jurisdiction. These directions have been issued after a video of National Flag being burnt on tracks in Manawala near Amritsar came to fore recently. Pannun had threatened to take off National Flags installed at railway stations and Government offices and hoist Khalistani flags. “Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana are the most vulnerable places as National Flags are installed here and moreover these are among the busiest railway stations in Punjab,” said a senior Police officer, privy to the development. According to Police officials, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has also threatened to kidnap prominent politicians and Police officers of the State
04-Aug-2022
The Special Task Force (STF) recovered an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in polythene under a tree beside a hotel at Ambala-Delhi Highway near Chandigarh on August 4. One accused from Tarn Taran District of Punjab has been taken into custody. Preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested suspect was allegedly involved in terror activities and had placed the IED recently, the SP said.
03-Aug-2022
The Sikhs For Justice (SFJ)’s general counsel Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, in an email send to media houses, said that “Shimla will be the capital of independent Punjab and Sikh sovereigntists will raise Khalistani flags there”. He also urged the people of Himachal to refrain from raising the tricolour on August 15. “The issue is between Sikhs and India and since Modi government is determined to use violence, people of Himachal should stay out of this conflict,” Pannun said. He said that the SFJ had released the map of areas earmarked for secession from India through the Khalistan Referendum on July 26, 2022, and Shimla was declared as the future capital of Sikh homeland Khalistan. SFJ’s map encompasses the areas of pre-1966 Punjab, which include Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Sikh majority areas of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, he added.
03-Aug-2022
The Nurmahal Police on August 3 arrested a widow, identified as Sandeep Kaur and recovered six grams of heroin, 290 intoxicant tablets and drug money of INR 1, 41, 340 from her possession in Mohalla Rungrra in Nurmahal in Jalandhar district.
02-Aug-2022
The Malout city police arrested five persons, identified as Rachpal Singh, Sewak Singh, Manphool Singh, Dharamvir Singh and Husanpreet Singh along with 20-gm heroin and Rs 22,000 drug money in Muktsar district on August 2.
02-Aug-2022
Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) chief Baljit Singh Daduwal on August 2 asked the Sikh youths, especially baptized ones, to stay away from dollar dreams shown by a secessionist organisation in the name of Khalistan. In a video message he said that “It is tragic that the Sikhs, mainly Amritdhari youths, have got swayed by these promises and end up in jails. They are not even getting bail. Many youths have been in jail for over two years. The organisation that got this unlawful work done didn't even pay them.” Daduwal also said many Sikh families were suffering because their young sons were getting lured by payment of a few hundred to thousand dollars and promise of a job made by a US-based secessionist organisation in exchange for hosting Khalistan flags or painting its slogans.