Time Line-2001

India 02-May-2001

Five Babbar Khalsa terrorists were arrested in Nabepur village, Gurdaspur District. A large number of sophisticated arms, including AKs and explosives, including RDX and PETN, was recovered from them.

India 03-May-2001

Police unearthed an illegal arms factory, 100 yards away from a police station, at Mohali. The factory was reportedly operating clandestinely for the past 12 years.

India 04-May-2001

After the arrest of the KCF chief Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, Punjab police are reportedly getting feelers from at least three other dreaded terrorists, including Pakistan-based KCF chief (Panjwar) Paramjit Singh Panjwar, for their surrender. Though admitting that some terrorists settled abroad had sent feelers for their surrender, Punjab DGP Sarabjit Singh refused to name them. However, the DGP said, "We may have some big names like Zaffarwal in our custody soon". He said Pakistan-based terrorists were shaken by Zaffarwal's arrest and were being pressured by the ISI to step up subversive activities in northern parts of the country. Media reports quoting intelligence sources said Punjwar, who is wanted in several cases including killings, had recently escaped from Pakistan and made contacts with some senior Punjab police officials.

India 05-May-2001

Gurcharan Singh Tohra, former president of the SGPC urged the government to announce a general amnesty for all those who had been blacklisted for their role in the terrorism in Punjab during the eighties. Tohra said, ‘Those involved in the Khalistan movement are not the only ones wishing to return, but there are people who had fled the country out of fear of the police or some other reasons. Now that the separatist movement has died down, the Indian Government should initiate a move to heal the wounds’.

India 09-May-2001

In a bid to revive terrorism in Punjab and provide financial assistance to undertrial terrorists, funds from abroad continue to flow into the country. This was revealed by Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukha, the leader of Babbar Khalsa who was arrested on May 1, 2001. A senior police officer said that Sukha had received a sum of Rs one lakh through hawala transactions from Germany. This amount was sent by a German-based person known as 'Babaji' and another known as Piara Singh, both of whom are active fundraisers of the Babbar Khalsa.

India 09-May-2001

In another development, the chief of the KCF-Punjwar, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, in an interview dubbed reports in the media suggesting his willingness to surrender, denied he has no such plans.

India 14-May-2001

According to media reports, radical Sikh organizations in Punjab have renewed their efforts to observe the anniversary of Operation Bluestar, on June 6, 2001, at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. As many as 15 different organizations have reportedly decided to declare Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale a martyr and observe June 6 as ‘martyrdom day’. These organizations have reportedly formed a 15-member Sant Jarnail Singh Shaheedi and Ghalughara Yadgari Committee. The Committee has also approached Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti to declare Bhindranwale a martyr.

India 17-May-2001

Police arrested two KLF terrorists from Ludhiana. They were arrested while trying to snatch the car of a resident whom they killed when he refused to oblige. A senior police official said eight criminal cases, including murder, were registered against one of the terrorists identified as Jasbir Singh Jassa, who had been absconding from the Nabha jail since August 21, 2000. The duo reportedly carried out orders at the behest of England-based KLF members, Gurnam Singh, and Sandeep Singh.

India 29-May-2001

The Punjab and Haryana High Court permitted London based Khalistan terrorist leader Jagjit Singh Chauhan to visit India. Responding to a petition filed on behalf of Chauhan, the Court rejected the government's contention that there were several intelligence reports regarding Chauhan's continuing activities as a propagandist of Khalistan and directed the Union government to issue necessary travel documents to Chauhan through the Indian High Commission in London. The Court observed that a citizen could not be denied his fundamental rights based on such reports only.

India 30-May-2001

A day after Punjab and Haryana High Court permitted him to visit India, the Khalistan protagonist Jagjit Singh Chauhan, in a telephonic interview to a national daily, expressed his keenness to return to Punjab. A former Punjab Minister and Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly, Chauhan said he aimed to work and struggle through peaceful means for the attainment of Khalistan, which would include Punjab and the Punjabi- speaking areas of the neighbouring States. He denied that Khalistan was a communal movement aimed at setting up a theocratic state.