KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
With the arrest of 13 members, the Khanna Police busted a target killing and extortion module operated by a United States-based gangster with links to the international terrorist organisation Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).
The shooters’ gang, operated by Amritpal Singh, also known as Amrit Bal, who is currently living in the US and is a member of the Jaggu Bhagwanpuria gang, had a total of 14 people on their target in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
The arrested accused have been identified as Mahinder Verma of Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh, Ramesh Chauhan of Barmer, Rajasthan, Gurjant and Sukhveer Singh, residents of Boolepur village in Khanna, Sandeep Singh of Fatehgarh Sahib, Harsimranjit Singh, Sarabjot Singh, Daljit Kaur alias Maano and Shamsher Singh of Amritsar, Charles and Parveen Singh of Gurdaspur, and Rafi and Waris Ali of Malerkotla.
Addressing a press conference in Khanna, inspector general of police (Ludhiana Range) Kaustubh Sharma on Wednesday said that police arrested Verma and Ramesh on December 5 last year for possessing one pistol, one country-made revolver. “During the investigation, it was found that they both are in contact with Bal. Both of them had teamed up in Yamunanagar in November 2022 on the directions of Bal and Bhagwanpuria and had planned a targeted killing, but they failed in their attempt,” the IGP said.
On further investigation, it was found that both (Verma and Chauhan) had also planned a killing in Batala, where Harsimranjit Singh, Shamsher Singh, and Charles were to facilitate them by providing shelter and ammunition.
The trio is among those arrested, and two country-made pistols and 23 live cartridges were recovered from their possession, while the motorcycle used in the recce has also been impounded, he added.
The IG said that Harsimranjit Singh was the main handler for gangster Bal in Punjab. He said that the investigation revealed that Daljit Kaur alias Maano, a close confidante of Bal, was also in touch with the gang and her two partners, Sarabjit Singh and Pramod, informed the gang members about the target and provided funding. Police arrested Daljit Kaur and Sarabjit Singh on December 25, while Pramod is on the run.
After questioning Daljit Kaur, police arrested Waris Ali and Rafi of Malerkotla on January 8. The accused have been arrested under sections 384 (punishment for extortion), 385 (putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and 17 (punishment for raising funds for the terrorist act), 18 (punishment for conspiracy) and 20 (punishment for being a member of terrorist gang or organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Police
have also nominated Bal (currently living in the US), Bhagwanpuria, Pargat
Singh (living in the UK), Jack of Rajasthan, and Parmod of Amritsar as accused
in the case.