KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
19-Apr-2010
A link between the KZF and LeT has once again surfaced with the infiltration of two militants, including a Pakistani and a local of Doda in Jammu and Kashmir, from Bamial sector of Gurdaspur District in Punjab.
18-Apr-2010
A group of militants is reported to have intruded into the Indian Territory, taking probably for the first time Gurdaspur (Punjab) route, on the night of April 18. However, two of them were trapped by Police and Security Force (SF) personnel at Chabe Chak Nursery along Ujh River under the jurisdiction of Rajbagh Police Station in the Kathua District in the evening of April 19. While only two militants have been spotted so far, Police didn’t rule out the possibility of some more militants having succeeded in infiltrating into this side but maintained that at no other place movement of the intruders has been observed. According to sources, the group of militants included some activists of the Dashmesh Regiment of the KZF besides Pakistani militants. While the KZF militants were reported to have left for Punjab, the Pakistani militants intruded into Kathua District.
17-Apr-2010
A suspected BKI militant, identified as Avtar Singh, was arrested by Zirakpur Police from Materi village in Ambala on April 17. He was produced in the Derabassi court on April 18 from where he was sent in Police remand till April 22. He is said to be the brother of another BKI cadre Purshotam Singh, who is living in France. According to Police sources, Purshotam was regularly sending money to BKI cadres in India to sustain their criminal activities.
30-Mar-2010
A special court sentenced BKI militant Paramjit Singh Bheora to life imprisonment, after convicting him of involvement in the 1995 assassination of the then Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. A fine of INR 65000 was also slapped on Bheora, who was on March 29 convicted of criminal conspiracy for his involvement in the assassination of Beant Singh by a suicide bomber, Dilawar Singh, August 31, 1995, at the high-security Punjab Civil Secretariat complex in Chandigarh. Jagtar Singh Hawara, an accomplice of Bheora, was earlier sentenced to death in 2007 in the same case
30-Mar-2010
A hardcore militant arrested by the Punjab Police was working towards the revival of terror outfit KLF and planning to carry out a series of explosions in the State at the behest of Pakistan's ISI, a senior Police official said. Amritsar City Police Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said, “He was associated with the defunct KLF and was working towards its revival by trying to cause series of explosions in the State at the instance of Pakistan's ISI.” “Baba at a very young age joined the BTFK (Sangha Group) in the early 1990s. Subsequently, after the death of BTFK area commander Sukh Ram Singh Kulara, he joined KCF headed by Jarnail Singh Shatrana,” the Commissioner said.
29-Mar-2010
A BKI militant, identified as Piara Singh, a resident of Gattikatar village in Ferozepur, was arrested with 3.5 kilograms of RDX, which he had reportedly smuggled from Pakistan for supplying to BKI militants in Punjab. With the arrest of the explosive’s supplier to BKI, the Mohali District Police claimed to have foiled another bid of Pakistan’s ISI-backed BKI to revive militancy in Punjab, Delhi and across the country.
25-Mar-2010
Three BKI militants, Waryam Singh alias Jasbir Singh alias Giani of Mohali District, Kulwant Singh of Mann Kheri District and Bhupinder Singhof Ropar District, were arrested at Rajpura of Patiala District. SSP R. S. Khatra said that they confessed that they were in constant touch with Italy-based BKI militant Jasvir Singh Jassi, who gave them the weapons to eliminate Baba Bhaniarwala to create unrest in the State. They were paid heavily by Jassi and were asked to step up militant activity in the State, Khatra said.
23-Mar-2010
Five "Pakistan-made" hand grenades were seized from the Mohali District on March 23, following the arrest of BKI militants. The grenades were recovered from Siswan village in Mullanpur town, about 14 kilometers away from the Punjab Cricket Association stadium, where one of the Indian Premier League cricket match is scheduled to be held on March 24. Mohali's Superintendent of Police Varinderpal Singh said that the grenades were made in Pakistan and had an imprint of 'P-86' on them.
21-Mar-2010
Two militants of BKI, arrested by Mohali Police, were produced in the court and remanded to two-day Police custody.
18-Mar-2010
A joint Police team of the Punjab and Delhi Police neutralized a module of the BKI, an outfit backed by Pakistan's ISI, by arresting three militants from Punjab and Delhi. Two suspected BKI militants, identified as Daljit Kumar alias Deepak of Baltana from Mohali District and Purshotam Singh alias Bunty from Rajoura in Patiala District, were arrested at the Zirakpur-Patiala road near Zirakpur in an operation conducted by the Mohali Police and the Special Cell of Delhi Police in the night of March 18. The third militant of the outfit, identified as Karwinder Singh, a native of Ropar, was arrested in Delhi on March 19.
16-Mar-2010
The BKI terrorists Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora were produced in a local court in Chandigarh for the ongoing trial of the Beant Singh assassination case.
07-Mar-2010
Sikh militant outfits based abroad are trying to revive terrorism in Punjab and the Government is maintaining a close watch on such outfits, the UMHA said. "Available reports suggest that Sikh militant groups, especially those based abroad, continue to persist with their efforts to revive militancy in Punjab," Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Maken told the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament). "A close watch is maintained on the activities of various groups known to have been engaged in trying to foment terrorist activities in Punjab," he said. He also added that pro-Khalistan terrorist outfits namely BKI, ISYF, KCF and KZF continued to be banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2004
21-Feb-2010
Two militants of KCF, identified as Jasvir Singh alias Jassa and Harjant Singh alias DC were arrested with explosives at a check-post near Rajgarh village in Patiala District. The duo, who were involved in more than 12 cases since 1993, were arrested when they were on their way to plant bombs in Ambala. They had reportedly planted bombs outside an LPG refilling plant near Nabha town in January 2010 and on a road leading to Indian Air Force station at Zirakpur, near Chandigarh. Nearly eight kilograms of explosives, 40 gelatin sticks, two pistols and some ammunition were seized from them. The IG claimed that the duo had met KCF’s Bakhshish Singh alias Baba who is absconding since the Karnal bomb attack attempt on the Dera Sacha Sauda (a group regarded as 'heretic' by orthodox Sikhs) chief in a high security jail during the days of militancy in Punjab. According to IG, another KCF terrorist Harminder Singh, now in Malaysia, provided arms, ammunition, explosives and money to DC, Jassa and Baba through the hawala (informal money transfer system) route and the trio had planted bombs with the help of another person, Pargat Singh, near the LPG plant in Nabha and the airbase.
27-Jan-2010
The National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah (NSCN-IM) joined hands with Hurriyat Conference of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Dal Khalsa of Punjab, to put pressure on the Centre for an ‘early solution to the impasse in Nagaland, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab’. Thuingaleng Muivah, ‘general secretary’ of the NSCN-IM, Syed Ali Shah Gilani, ‘chairman’ of Hurriyat Conference, and Kanwarpal Singh of Dal Khalsa in a joint statement appealed to the international community highlighting the ‘fundamental conflicts and contradictions’ in India. The report adds that the joint message was ‘endorsed’ by leading organisations based in the respective Diaspora communities.
18-Jan-2010
A bomb, suspected to be an IED, was discovered kept along the Bhiwanigarh-Nabha highway outside the Indian Oil Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) bottling plant in Nabha in Patiala District, Police said.
21-Oct-2009
The Special Operation Cell of Punjab Police arrested a militant of the KZF, identified as Barkat Singh, a close associate of Ranjit Singh, the KZF chief who is based in Pakistan, against whom many cases of terrorist activities were registered. Barkat Singh is currently wanted by the Jammu and Kashmir Police in a murder case and at present was living on a fake identity. Investigations reportedly revealed that Ranjit Singh was trying to push in a huge consignment of arms, ammunition and explosives from Pakistan, which was to be received by Barkat through an associate in Jammu, Police said.
17-Oct-2009
The Director-General of Punjab Police, Paramdeep Singh Gill, said that Pakistan’s ISI is actively engaged in reviving militancy in Punjab by providing arms and money to extremists.
29-Sep-2009
Police arrested five BKI militants, including the son of a Police official, and claimed to have neutralized a terror module. Four militants were arrested on the night of September 29 from Bhogpur, 45 kilometers from Jalandhar and one was arrested on September 30 from Jalandhar. The arrestees were identified as Ranvir Singh alias Saabi (son of an ASI), Manjit Singh alias Jeeta, Amandeep Singh (all of the residents of Bhogpur) and Kuldeep Singh of Basti Bawa Khel locality and Dinesh Kumar. The arrested persons have been in touch with their Germany based head of BKI Harminder Singh alias Mintu, a close link of BKI terrorists residing in Pakistan for the past six months; the Police said adding that the accused were also in touch with Paramjit Singh Pamma, also based in Germany.
04-Sep-2009
The Punjab Police claimed to have seized 2.5 kilograms of RDX, said to be a part of the consignment used in the attack on the convoy of Dera Sacha Sauda (a group regarded as 'heretic' by orthodox Sikhs) chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on February 2, 2008, near Pipli in Karnal District. The Police also claimed to have seized two detonators and a pistol from two-murder accused brought to Patiala from Mansa for interrogation in another case.
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.