KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
Some residents of Delhi are receiving pre-recorded calls from Khalistani organization Sikhs for Justice stating that the August 15 Independence Day program in the national capital will be disrupted, the Delhi police said.
The Delhi police has launched an investigation in this context. According to Delhi Police, one of the person who received the threat call informed the police through a PCR call.
Delhi Police informed that legal action has been initiated on the complaint of the person and the special cell is investigating the matter.
The Delhi Police said that they are trying to find out from where the call was made and who was the caller.
Earlier last year, the Delhi Police tightened the security and vigilance at all the eight borders of Delhi as well as the busy markets of the city. The security near the Red Fort was beefed up with many layers of protection.
For enhanced security at the Independence Day programme, the police personnel deployed anti-drone system to ensure protection against drone attacks. This anti-drone system was manufactured by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Bharat Electronics (BEL).
The Red Fort was shielded with a Radar system to ensure its safety from the Drones. Police personnel were also taught ways to combat suspected objects flying in the sky. (ANI)
In one of its biggest drug busts so far, the Punjab Police on Sunday said it has seized 77 kilograms of heroin from four people allegedly involved in a trans-border drug smuggling racket.
The seizure was made by the Counter Intelligence Wing, Ferozepur, in two separate operations, Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said.
He said police have also seized three pistols from the smugglers.
"One of the biggest heroin seizures of 2023: In two separate intelligence-led operations, Counter Intelligence, #Ferozepur has apprehended 4 drug traffickers and recovered 77Kg heroin (41Kg+36Kg) and 3 pistols," the DGP said in a tweet.
The modules were actively involved in trans-border and inter-state drug smuggling in Punjab in a big way, he added.
Cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act were registered at Fazilka in connection with the seizures and further investigation is underway, Yadav said.
Canada authorities are investigating a series of anti-India posters targeting its senior-most diplomats in the country, even as New Delhi has sought remedial action to prevent such incidents.
Following the appearance of a poster outside the Indian consulate in Vancouver on Tuesday, Canada has started probing the matter. In a tweet, Public Safety Canada, the country’s internal security department, said, “There is no place in Canada for the incitement of violence. Law enforcement has been engaged following the circulation of an online video in relation to threats against Indian diplomatic officials.”
India has sought action from Ottawa in this regard, so that perpetrators are identified and deterred from undertaking such provocation in Canada, as per its laws.
The poster outside the consulate was similar to those that appeared at various locations in the Metro Vancouver region earlier, particularly in the town of Surrey. These posters use the word ‘Wanted’ under the photographs and names of India’s senior-most diplomats in Canada – its High Commissioner to Ottawa and consul-generals in Vancouver and Toronto.
The poster near the entrance to the building housing the consulate was removed after it was discovered on Tuesday morning. It appears to have been placed there in the early hours.
While the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is responsible for diplomatic security, the Vancouver Police Department is the local agency in charge.
The
lapse occurred despite the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) group warning in advance
about besieging Indian missions on August 15, and similar posters already
making their appearance in the region.
As with the ‘Kill India’ posters earlier, videos of the posters being placed at the consulate were circulated on social media on Monday.
The series of posters have referred to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, SFJ’s principal figure in British Columbia. Nijjar was murdered in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Singh Gurdwara Sahib he headed in Surrey on June 18. SFJ has blamed India for his “assassination”. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), which is probing the killing, has not ascribed any motive while it seeks the murderers.
Several similar posters had appeared at various locations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) last month, prior to SFJ conducting the latest round of the so-called Khalistan Referendum in a gurdwara in the area on July 16.
As with the previous campaign, the new posters have appeared before SFJ’s organises its next referendum in September in Surrey.
SFJ has said the posters do not call for violence against the diplomats but is a “reminder” that the high commissioner is the “face” of the Indian government in Canada, which it holds responsible for the “assassination”.
Meanwhile,
the gurdwara that Nijjar led has circulated an online petition calling upon the
Canadian government to launch an investigation into the murder. The e-petition has
been sponsored by Liberal Party MP Sukh Dhaliwal, and said the “assassination”
of Nijjar had “raised serious concerns which warrant immediate and utmost
attention of the Canadian government at the highest level”.
Ahead of their threat to besiege Indian missions in the country on Independence Day, pro-Khalistan elements in Canada continued their poster campaign against India’s senior-most diplomats in the province of British Columbia.
The latest series of posters, with the word ‘Wanted’, were placed at various locations in the town of Surrey. As with the ‘Kill India’ posters earlier, videos of the posters being placed at various locations were circulated on social media on Monday and were amplified by what appeared to be either Pakistan-based or pro-Pakistan handles, many of them created in recent days.
The latest batch of posters referred to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice’s (SFJ) principal figure in British Columbia. Nijjar was murdered in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Singh Gurdwara he headed in Surrey on June 18. SFJ has blamed India for his “assassination”. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team or Investigation Team (IHIT), which is probing the killing, has not ascribed any motive while it seeks the murderers.
Several similar posters had appeared at various locations in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) last month, prior to SFJ conducting the latest round of the so-called Khalistan Referendum in a gurdwara in the area on July 16. Local municipal authorities, including those from the city of Brampton had stated those posters had been illegally put up.
Maninder Gill, president of the Surrey, BC-based Friends of Canada and India Foundation, said his organisation “strongly condemned” the posters and added the city should not allow them to be displayed as they violated municipal bylaws.
As with the previous campaign, the new posters have appeared before SFJ’s organises its next referendum in September in Surrey.
These posters again target Indian diplomats in Canada: High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and the consul generals in Vancouver and Toronto. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had raised the issue of the security of Indian diplomats when he met Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly on the margins of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Jakarta in July.
Joly had reiterated Ottawa’s commitment to the security of the envoy, tweeting Canada “takes very seriously its obligations under the Vienna Convention on the safety of diplomats.”
In a major crackdown against those involved in the attack on the Indian High Commission in London, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Tuesday raided 31 locations in Punjab and Haryana to unravel the full contours of the conspiracy and bring to book the culprits.
The locations where searches were carried out include two premises linked to UK-based NGO Khalsa Aid, and the residence of Paramjit Singh Pamma, a Khalistan Terrorist Force (KTF) militant. The High Commission of India in London was attacked on March 19 by a group of around 50 people during a pro-Khalistan protest. They committed criminal trespass, injured officials, disrespected the Indian flag and damaged public property.
“Searches were carried out in various districts including Moga, Barnala, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Tarn Taran, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur, SBS Nagar, Amritsar, Mukhtsar, Sangrur, Patiala and Mohali in Punjab, and Sirsa in Haryana,” a spokesperson of the NIA said. “The raids led to the seizure of digital data containing information related to those accused of being involved in the attack on the High Commission and other incriminating documents and evidence. Massive raids were conducted across the two north-Indian states (Punjab and Haryana) as part of the NIA’s efforts to unravel the bigger conspiracy behind the London attack,” the spokesperson said.
In Mohali, an NIA team raided the house of Pamma in Phase-3B2. The NIA team reached Pamma’s residence at around 6 am and remained there till 10.30 am. During the raid, officials questioned Pamma’s parents. Pamma is on the NIA’s list of the most wanted. He is an accused in various terror cases, including the murder of Rulda Singh, who was the president of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat – an RSS affiliate organisation. Rulda Singh was shot dead in Patiala in August 2009. Another team raided the two premises of the Khalsa Aid in Patiala.
The raids at Rishi Colony and a house at Shera Wala Gate began at 6 am and continued until the afternoon. Amarpreet Singh, who heads the Khalsa Aid in Punjab, said that a team of 15-16 persons including local police raided his house and questioned him for around five about the source of Khalsa Aid’s funding and its major donors. “I answered the queries. The NIA took away some documents from the office and my home,” Amarpreet Singh said, questioning the time of the raid stating that their volunteers are currently busy in helping the flood victims in Punjab. “Our accounts are transparent and I gave the answers but the timing of the raids is questionable,” Amarpreet added.
Meanwhile, NIA said the attack on the Indian High Commission was allegedly organised by UK-based Gurcharan Singh of the Dal Khalsa, Avtar Singh Khanda of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and Jasvir Singh, and many of their associates, both Indian and foreign nationals. They were identified during the investigation.
In May, a team of the NIA visited the UK to probe the case. Subsequently, crowdsourcing of information was carried out to identify UK-based entities and individuals involved in the incident.
The NIA said it is leaving no stone unturned to arrest perpetrators of the attack, their associates and their supporters, based in India and abroad. “The NIA has been carrying out extensive investigations into the incident with a view to ensuring there is no repeat of such breach of security, disrespect to the Indian national flag or any threat to Indian interests abroad,” the spokesperson said.
In an anti-India provocation by the banned Sikh for Justice (SFJ), a graffiti carrying a pro-Khalistani slogan was written outside the SDM office in Mandi Dabwali in Haryana on Monday.
The pro-Khalistan organisation has claimed responsibility for the act. The writings on the walls claimed, “Haryana will become Khalistan too.”
SFJ warns PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah
In the video, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, General Counsel of Sikh for Justice, is seen warning PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar that India will end on August 15 and Haryana will turn into Khalistan.
The Punjab Police, in a joint operation with the State Special Operation Cell, SAS Nagar, claimed to have busted a foreign-based terror module of the alleged Khalistan Liberation Force planning to disrupt peace in the state through targeted killings.
Five module members tasked to execute target killings have been arrested and 2 illegal weapons and live ammunition seized, Director-General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said in a tweet.
Earlier in the day, the Punjab Police busted a narco-crime syndicate operated by gangster Ravi Balachauria and arrested two people.
Arms and ammunition and over 1 kg of heroin were recovered from the arrested persons, they said.
Further investigations are under way.
Lawyers in the United Kingdom are 'coaching' 'illegal' Indian migrants to pose as pro-Khalistanis to seek asylum in the country. Nearly 40 law firms, monitored by the UK authority, have come under the radar of carrying out such suspicious operations.
The incident has come to light after a journalist of the Daily Mail visited a string of law firms as an undercover agent and represented himself as an illegal Indian migrant, who has come to Britain on a small boat, looking for work.
The most number of suggestions from the firms was that the man describes himself as a farmer from Punjab who is a supporter of the Khalisatn movement.
According to the report, one lawyer, charging 5,500 pounds, suggested he say that he participated in the farmers' protest and later someone asked him to join the Khalistan separatist Amritpal Singh. Eventually, he must tell that following these incidents, his life has come under threats from Indian security.
Another lawyer, charging 10,000 pounds, suggested that he must represent himself as a pro-Khalistani even though he doesn't have to be, to win the case.
Taking to Twitter, UK PM Rishi Sunak said, "This is what we’re up against. The Labour Party, a subset of lawyers, criminal gangs - they're all on the same side, propping up a system of exploitation that profits from getting people to the UK illegally. I have a plan to stop it."
In subsequent tweets, he further wrote, "Labour have tried to block every vote to stop the boats. Their plan for immigration is an open door. But I know stopping the boats is a priority for the British people. And I'm leaving no stone unturned to get it done." He further explained the deal he secured with France on the largest ever small boats, which will see 40% more patrols on French beaches. He also mentioned that he negotiated a deal with Albania to make it easier to deport and deter illegal migrants and FNOs.
West Midlands police have confirmed that there is no police investigation being carried out into the death of Amritpal Singh’s handler, Avtar Singh Khanda, in the UK as it “was not deemed to be suspicious”.
Khanda (35), who according to Indian security sources groomed Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal in Dubai to revive the Khalistan movement in India, died at Birmingham City Hospital on June 15 this year after being diagnosed with terminal blood cancer. The news of his death spawned several conspiracy theories amongst pro-Khalistan groups, including that he had been deliberately poisoned.
But a spokesperson for West Midlands police on Tuesday told TOI: “He was in hospital when he died.
It was not deemed to be suspicious at the hospital and his death was referred to the coroner. The police were only even made aware of this because of allegations he was poisoned but he was in hospital for a reason — and that was not poisoning. Our involvement was only because of these allegations. His death is not deemed to be suspicious.”
Khanda’s mother, Charanjit Kaur (65), and sister, Jaspreet Kaur (32), who works as a nurse, live in India. They have applied for visas to come to the UK to attend his funeral, sources told TOI, saying they hoped they would be granted visas on compassionate grounds. Initially the family had wanted to repatriate his body to India as it was Khanda’s last wish that his body be cremated in Moga, Punjab, where he was born, and the ashes be immersed at Kiratpur Sahib. However, the family have not received the necessary clearances. Jaspreet had approached the Punjab and Haryana high court asking it to direct the Centre to issue permission to bring his body from the UK to Moga as she had not received any response from the Indian high commission in London.
To repatriate a body from Britain to India, a permit from the Indian high commission is required.
Khanda was associated with US-based Gurpatwant Singh, the leader of Sikhs for Justice, which is running the unofficial Khalistan referendum, as well as with Babbar Khalsa International terrorist Paramjit Singh Pamma. He inherited the secessionist aspiration from his father, Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist Kulwant Singh who was killed by security forces in 1991.
He arrived in the UK as a student and his political asylum claim was pending at the time of his death.
He played a major role in shaping Waris Punjab De, first in association with its founder, Deep Sidhu, and after the latter’s death by anointing Amritpal Singh, until then an obscure trucker based in the UAE, as his successor.
It was also he who “arranged” Amritpal's marriage to Kirandeep Kaur, a British national, and was instrumental in arranging all the hideouts used by Amritpal while he dodged Indian law enforcement agencies for 37 days.
Amritpal was ultimately arrested and is lodged in Dibrugarh jail, Assam.
Kirandeep was stopped from leaving India last week when she attempted to board a plane to the UK. It is thought she was planning to attend Khanda’s funeral.
There are numerous tribute videos to Khanda on TikTok. Several claim to have an audio recording of his last words when in hospital on a ventilator. In these a man says: “Everyone please stay in Chardi Kala, as per the Bhana (will) of Maharaj.
I am in Chardi Kala as well. Whatever that pleases Maharaj [is best]. Always keep the Panth in Chardi Kala. We shall not waver in any way. Humans come and go. Maharaj will look after. Long live Khalistan.”
The National Investigation Agency on Saturday filed a chargesheet against three foreign-based, designated terrorists Harwinder Singh Sandhu aka Rinda of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Arshdeep Dalla aka Arsh Dala of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and Lakhbir Singh Sandhu aka Landa of BKI, and six others in cases relating to the nexus between gangsters, terrorists and drug smugglers active in north India.
Rinda, Arsh and Landa, as per the chargesheet, have created their own networks of operatives to carry out terror activities in India. They have close contacts with drug smugglers/Khalistani operatives in Pakistan and other countries.
Through this complex network of operatives based abroad, they have been recruiting, motivating and handling their associates in India to carry out terrorist activities, extortion and cross-border smuggling of weapons and drugs into India.
They also have linkages with major gangs operating in North India, including local gangsters, organised criminal syndicates and networks.
Six others charge sheeted on Saturday include foreign-based BKI nodes Harjot Singh, r/o Punjab and currently in USA; Kashmir Singh Galwaddi, r/o Punjab and an absconding accused of Nabha Jailbreak case and suspected to be presently in Nepal; and Tarsem Singh, brother of Lakhbir Singh Sandhu @ Landa, and currently in Dubai.
Another charge sheeted accused is Gurjant Singh, r/o Punjab and currently in Australia, who is among the foreign based nodes of KTF.
Deepak Ranga and Lucky Khokhar @ Denis, who were recruited by foreign based handlers for carrying out terror activities in India, have also been charge sheeted. Accused Deepak Ranga was handled by Rinda and Landa for carrying out the RPG attack on Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters, Mohali, Punjab in May 2022.
Investigations in the gangster-terrorist-drug-smuggler network have revealed a complex mechanism of fund raising for the BKI and KTF. The funds were being routed to India based associates through both, informal channels as well as formal channels with layering and fund provisioning. MTSS or other means were being used while fully masking the identity of the real sender or receiver of funds.
NIA is also investigating the links of 16 other absconding and arrested accused associated with the BKI and KTF.
A former gangster, Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda is now an important BKI member and Khalistani operative. In the year 2018-19, he fled to Pakistan and is currently living there under the patronage of ISI, and is involved in commission of terrorist activities against India. Rinda is involved in various offences like smuggling of arms, ammunition explosives and drugs into Indian territory from Pakistan, recruitment of BKI operatives, murders, raising funds for BKI through extortion, etc.
in the states of Punjab and Maharashtra. He has been involved in many terrorist activities, including the RPG attack on Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in May 2022, and was declared as an ‘individual terrorist’ in 2023 by the Central government.
Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dala, r/o Moga, Punjab was an infamous gangster in India prior to relocating to Canada. In Canada, Dala came in contact with Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the KTF chief who was recently killed in British Columbia.
The duo engaged in recruitment of youth and formation of terrorist gangs for carrying out extortion for raising funds for KTF and for carrying out targeted killing of businessmen and leaders of particular communities in Punjab. Dala was declared an ‘individual terrorist’ earlier this year.
Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa, r/o Tarn Taran, Punjab, India was initially involved in criminal and gangster related activities.
In 2017, he left for Canada and continued his activities from there. In the meantime, he came in contact with BKI terrorist Rinda and started working for the latter and BKI. He has been main accused in a number of terrorist incidents, including RPG attack on Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in May 2022 and RPG attack on Sarhali Police station in Tarn Taran in December, 2022. He was also the mastermind of the conspiracy to kill Punjab Police SI Dilbagh Singh in August, 2022.