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Home , Babbar Khalsa, Beant Singh (assassin), Gurbachan Singh, Insurgency in Punjab, Jagtar Singh Hawara, Khalistan Zindabad Force

Cover story MILITANCY

The ISI is plotting to revive a dead dream. Ensconced in , two of ’s most dreaded militants are fanning the flames of a deep-seated anger.

By Asit Jolly

ndia’s most wanted Khalistan terrorist lives in plush military- style quarters, adjoining Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport. Wadhawa Singh Babbar remains busy plotting carnage against his home country with his Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) hosts. The 65-year-old grey-bearded head of perhaps the deadliest Khalistani terror group, Babbar IInternational (BKI), along with his ISI minders, remains engaged in trying to revive the long-defeated Khalistan movement in Punjab. On the walls surrounding his operations centre are detailed section maps not only of Punjab but also of adjoining north Indian states that are the BKI’s extended battlefield. Like chess pawns, multi-coloured pins are moved around on these maps, marking potential targets. With ISI-sponsored militant groups in comparative disarray in , ’s long-stated ambition of “inflicting death by a thousand cuts” on its larger neighbour is being pursued through well-funded and equipped Khalistani groups. Their deadly intent was evident in the seizure on October 12 of an RDX cargo in Ambala, . Recent events in Punjab have rejuvenated militant Sikh groups. In 2007, there were sectarian clashes between and followers of the breakaway Sacha Sauda sect. More recently, there was widespread public indignation over the rejection of the mercy petititon of Devinderpal Singh Bhullar. Bhullar faces a death sentence for killing nine persons in an attempt on former Youth PRABHJOT GILL Congress chief Maninderjeet Singh Bitta in 1993. The radical fringe is seeking three things. It wants retribution for Operation Bluestar—the ’s attack on ’s in June 1984 to flush out terrorists hiding inside Cover story PUNJAB MILITANCY G U E S T C O L U M N K.P.S.GILL SINISTER The writer was DGP, . He heads the Institute for Conflict Management, There have been ominous indicators that the spectre of Khalistani terror 4 SIGNS has returned to haunt the country. It has already cost many lives. SHINGAR CINEMA OCT 14, 2007 IT’S AN 18-YEAR-OLD PLOT terrorists bomb ’s ISI has persisted with its ‘K2’plan to bring together Khalistani and Kashmiri terrorists popular Shringar cinema, killing seven people and injuring more than 20. here is, in counterterrorism, no stance, been continuous recoveries of Nor is there anything particularly room for complacency. Given weapons and explosives. There were novel in the BKI-LeT combination. DELHI CINEMABLASTS MAY 22, 2005 TSouth Asia’s fractious environ- at least four instances in 2010, where Indeed, as the Khalistanis came ment, any terrorist incident beyond a substantial quantities of RDX were re- under near-terminal pressure in the Babbar Khalsa terrorists set off explosions certain scale has the potential to un- covered in Punjab. Data compiled by early 1990s, the ISI authored its ‘K2’ inside Delhi’s Liberty and Satyam cinemas leash forces that may be difficult to the Institute for Conflict Manage- programme—a plot to bring together killing one person and injuring 60 others. contain. The discovery of 5 kg of RDX ment, Delhi, confirms the arrest of at Khalistani and Kashmiri terrorists. The blasts take place during the screening of Jo Bole So Nihal, a film considered offensive and equipment to rig improvised ex- least 134 terrorists over the past The project was an abject failure, but by many orthodox Sikhs. plosive devices in a car in Ambala on decade (2001-2011). the ISI has continued its efforts. October 12, is, consequently, cause It is equally important, however, to The reality is, the Punjab Police BURAILJAILBREAK JAN 22, 2004 for concern. recognise that the last major incident and intelligence network have estab- Intelligence relating to these re- of terrorism by the Khalistanis was lished extraordinary capacities of AMBALARDXHAUL OCT 12, 2011 Babbar Khalsa militants Jagtar Tara and two coveries indicates a plot involving the the Ludhiana bomb blast of October penetration, with most movements of others accused of assassinating Punjab Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) 15, 2007, and even this was engi- terrorist cadres and sympathisers Sniffer dogs help recover 5.6 kg of RDX from a car at the Ambala cantonment. Police chief minister escape from and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), neered by a combination of BKI cadres closely monitored. Police action has say Babbar Khalsa operatives were transporting the explosives to Delhi. jail by digging a 104 ft tunnel. backed by Pakistan’s Inter Services and Hindu mercenaries. The BKI is also educated the public about the Intelligence (ISI), and such linkages finding it difficult to recruit dedicated horrors of terrorism. Crucially, de- the holy shrine. It wants to avenge vised explosive device (IED) packed with and a principal perpetrator in assassi- between Pakistan-based Khalistani cadres in Punjab. Most of its opera- spite the maladministration in Punjab the mass killing of over 3,000 Sikhs fol- 5 kg of RDX would instantly kill scores of nating Punjab chief minister Beant and Islamist terrorist groupings are a tives are seduced by purely merce- since 1993, no government or major lowing ’s assassination people in its immediate surroundings, Singh in 1995, claimed ownership of further source of apprehension. nary motives, including the promise political formation has compromised four months later. It believes that the besides critically injuring dozens of the aborted terror plot. In a statement There is speculation that the explo- of resettlement abroad. with terrorism. The sole exception only definition of “justice” is secession others,” says Gopalji Mishra, who has printed on Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) sives were intended for strikes in was the effort by one national party to from . “Sikhs cannot be compelled investigated over 500 blast sites as stationery originating from Pakistan, Delhi and, coming soon after the Delhi JARNAIL SINGH BHINDRANWALE use some ex-terrorists in the gurd- to live under alien rule,” says a former head of Punjab’s Forensic Science he stated that the RDX consignment was High Court bombings, there has been WITH HIS FOLLOWERS wara elections this year, but the out- militant, who is confident of “dying in Laboratory and subsequently as ad- meant to target Congress leader Sajjan a certain stridency in the reportage come for them was disastrous. Khalistan.” This interview (see viser to the state police. Kumar for his alleged involvement in on the Ambala recoveries. This has There is, nevertheless, a well box) was given under conditions of the 1984 riots following Indira Gandhi’s not been diminished by statements funded and virulent propaganda strict annoymity. assassination. “The KTF considers it a emanating from the Government. campaign ongoing, and this is often In Punjab alone, 170 terrorists, in- he lethal consignment smuggled duty to kill Sajjan Kumar who is one of There is a degree of overreaction mounted from the human rights plat- cluding ‘sleepers’, have been arrested Tfrom Pakistan across the Jammu the biggest enemies of the Sikh quam and posturing here. Assessments of form. Khalistani groups continue to over the past four years leading to the border had moved unchallenged to the (community),” Tara said while warning the threat of the possible revival of enjoy freedom abroad, and attempts recovery of a varied arsenal comprising garrison town 200 km north of the police against “hounding” innocent Khalistani terrorism should be based to recapture where they a sub-machine gun, 20 AK-47 assault Capital before Delhi Police’s Special Sikhs with no link to his plot. “Our next on objective conditions. First, it is im- have lost influence continue. Extrem- rifles, numerous small arms, hundreds Cell, alerted by suspicious mobile attempt (on Sajjan Kumar) will follow portant to recognise that this is not an ist Sikh politics has, on occasion, of rounds of armour-piercing ordnance phone intercepts originating in Nepal, very soon,” he warned. abrupt manifestation of something manifested itself in violence abroad, and over 100 kg of assorted explosives seized it. Briefed by some BKI ‘sleepers’ Sources in the Delhi Police say that new. Pakistan has kept Khalistani ter- the most recent case being the mur- including RDX, PETN (pentaerythritol active in Punjab, two clean-shaven there is no confirmation of Tara’s claim rorism on life support ever since the der of Sant Ramanand by Khalistan tetranitrate) and gelignite. Police offi- Sikh couriers, who were driving the that the RDX was meant to target Sajjan comprehensive defeat of the move- Zindabad Force activists in Vienna in cials say anaesthetic material was also nondescript car with the explosives, Kumar. “It could be just a ruse used by ment in Punjab. The Ambala recover- May 2009. The Punjab border is also seized, suggesting that kidnapping had vanished without a trace. ISI to instigate BKI operatives on the ies are part of a sustained Pakistani the scene of rampant smuggling and also returned to the terrorist agenda. Police believe the RDX, meant to be ground,” a senior official claimed. effort to reactivate Khalistani groups. the ISI continues to link up criminals The October 12 ISI-backed distributed among ‘sleeper’ cadres in Tara was one of four BKI operatives Indeed, evidence of such efforts is lit- with the surviving rump of Khalis- Khalistani offensive, intended to target Delhi, was intended to create havoc in who on a freezing January 2004 night tered right across the 18 years of tanis based in Pakistan. There is an Delhi, was foiled by two Labrador snif- Delhi’s bazaars ahead of Diwali similar slid through a 104 ft-long tunnel under peace in the state. There have, for in- almost continuous flow of intelligence fer dogs, James and Chilli, who de- to the serial bombings in the city six three massive perimeter walls at relating to Khalistani groups attempt- tected the 5.6 kg of RDX secreted inside years earlier that killed 67 people and Chandigarh’s maximum-security Bur- PAKISTAN HAS KEPTKHALISTANI MILITANCY ing to execute attacks in both Punjab the door of a metallic blue Indica out- injured 224. On October 23, Jagtar ail Jail in one of the most dramatic and Delhi. These are the residual side Ambala cantonment. “An impro- Singh Tara, once a top BKI functionary jailbreaks in recent times. Top BKI ON LIFE SUPPORTFOR THE PASTTWO DECADES. risks that need to be managed.

20 INDIA TODAY ◆ NOVEMBER 14, 2011 NEW Cover story PUNJAB MILITANCY AHISTORY From the Kanishka bombing to the assassination of Beant Singh, OFVIOLENCE Babbar Khalsa has been at the forefront of militant violence he longest-surviving Khalistani Asia and Australia. Created in the Wadhawa Singh were founding Tmilitant group, the Babbar wake of a bloody clash between members of the group, which Khalsa International (BKI), has been Sikhs and adherents of the break- formed its first armed unit under responsible for some of the biggest away sect in Amritsar on Parmar in in 1981. Four terrorist strikes including the mid-air April 13, 1978, the BKI’s existence as years later, he executed the Kanish- bombing of Air India Flight 182 a militant group was first noticed in ka bombing, killing 329 people. Kanishka in 1985. Presently headed leaflets in 1980 shortly after the as- After both Sukhdev and Parmar by Wadhawa Singh Babbar alias sassination of the Nirankari chief were killed in encounters with the Chacha from Lahore, Pakistan, the . Punjab Police in 1992, the leadership BKI remains the most organised Sikh Sukhdev Singh Babbar, his moved to Wadhawa and Mehal in militant organisation with support- brother Mehal Singh, Indian- Pakistan. The two plotted the assas- ers in North America, Europe, South Canadian Talwinder Parmar and sination of then Punjab chief minis- ter Beant Singh in August 1995. In 2003, Mehal moved to Paris following differences with Wadhawa who sought to rebuild the BKI by or- ganising the January 2004 Burail jailbreak to liberate three key con- spirators of the Beant Singh assassi- nation including Jagtar Singh Tara. Intelligence officials say the jailbreak was funded by the ISI. Tara joined Wadhawa in Pakis- tan and together, under the ISI’s tutelage, they organised a series of strikes starting with the twin cinema bombings in Delhi in 2005. In March WADHAWASINGH BABBAR 65 JAGTAR SINGH TARA EARLY40s 2011, Tara announced the creation of the Khalistan Tiger Force which Chief of Babbar Khalsa International. He Once a taxi driver in Delhi,Tara was some intelligence officials believe is is known to be based in Lahore for over Wadhawa’s second in command in two decades, supervising terror strikes Lahore. He recently parted ways to only a ruse to lure younger Sikhs by against India with ISI support. launch the Khalistan Tiger Force. giving the BKI a newer look.

members and curity and intelligence establishment nantly by Punjab’s then director gen- Paramjit Bheora, co-accused in the worried. Tara was a Delhi taxi driver eral of police (DGP) Kanwar Pal Singh Beant Singh killing, as well as Devi in 1984 who offered his home as a safe Gill and aided by the army. ISI continued Singh, their laangri (cook), also house for Khalistani terrorists follow- to provide patronage to Wadhawa escaped from the jail in an episode ing the anti-Sikh carnage. Tara parted Singh, Khalistani Commando Force reminiscent of Second World War ways with Wadhawa Singh’s BKI in (KCF) chief Paramjit Panjwar as well as breakouts from German prison camps. March 2011 to launch the Khalistan others such as Ranjeet Neeta of the Though Hawara and Bheora were Tiger Force with ISI assistance. and Dal recaptured and convicted—the former Khalsa patron Gajinder Hijacker. All of was awarded a death sentence and the them have been living in ISI-provided latter life imprisonment—Tara, the FISHING IN TROUBLED WATERS comfort in Lahore for over two least important member of the quartet, A careful examination of recent events decades. Named by India in lists of established contact with the ISI. reveals that the ISI has never entirely terrorists routinely handed over to the Subsequently he crossed over to abandoned the armed Sikh separatist Pakistan Government over many Pakistan. Seven years on, he has resur- movement despite its supression in the years, these Sikh separatists remain faced as the ominous face of a new mid-1990s with some excellent and active, forging links with various Khalistani offensive that has India’s se- ruthless police work, led predomi- Islamist groups and Khalistani

22 INDIA TODAY ◆ NOVEMBER 14, 2011 NEW Cover story PUNJAB MILITANCY

RANA SIMRANJIT SINGH SEPARATIST DAL KHALSA LEADERS DEMONSTRATE IN AMRITSAR Even die-hard separatists like for- mer Tarn Taran MP Simranjit Singh Mann, whose Shiromani Amritsar polled over 16 per cent of the vote on the Khalistan slogan in the Shiromani Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections in Septem- ber, says the suggestion of armed re- vival is “mere speculation”. But Mann maintains that discontent is mounting with successive administrations in Delhi and Punjab failing to address is- sues that provoked the Sikh separatist movement in the ’80s such as the transfer of Chandigarh and Punjabi speaking areas from Haryana and equitable distribution of river waters.

REVAMPED TERROR MACHINE Intelligence officials say relatively little is known about current hierarchies in the disparate Khalistani groups. But ANGER AGAINSTOPERATION BLUESTAR IS NOT they agree that Tara has emerged as the new ‘ISI-favourite’ and KTF is the DEAD.MANYWANTTO REVIVE THE STRUGGLE. most lavishly funded by Pakistan. The only information available is that it is supporters in the West. notes, have steered clear of the sepa- attracting support from millitants in Delhi-based counterterrorism ex- ratist discourse. They know the mood search of a cohesive base. Khalistani pert Ajai Sahni, however, believes that of the people. Commando Force chief Paramjit their efforts are unlikely to succeed in The memory of the darkest phase Panjwar’s former driver Rattandeep the absence of popular ground support of insurrection in Punjab still evokes Singh and Wadhawa Singh’s relative that had sustained the movement for dread among . Militants oper- Resham Singh have joined in recently. over two decades after 1984. He is not ated a parallel administration in sev- The Khalistan Liberation Force, particularly alarmed since he sees no eral areas, collecting revenue, another major militant group that spe- “traction” on the ground. Sahni be- dispensing arbitrary “justice” through cialised in bomb attacks and abduc- lieves that ISI’s main objective is to keep kangaroo courts and decreeing moral tions at the height of Punjab’s India “unbalanced” through random re-armament programmes which separatist movement, has revived terrorist strikes. even enforced eating and drinking under the leadership of Harminder Other analysts share the view that regulations. “Khalistan is the fantasy Mintu, 40, a gurdwara administrator the ISI’s ‘dirty tricks’ department faces of a small section,” says Gurpreet who was once part of Goa’s infamous an uphill task in trying to revive Sikh Singh, 58, a retired government illegal mining syndicate. Mintu got in- . “The idea of dentist in Chandigarh. volved in the Sikh homeland move- Khalistan no longer has an organic Former BKI militant Kanwarpal ment after the 2007 sectarian clashes base in Punjab,” declares Pramod Singh Bittu, now spokesperson for between Sikhs and followers of the Kumar of Chandigarh’s Institute for the Amritsar-based Dal Khalsa, a Sikh controversial Sacha Sauda sect, Development and Communication. separatist group, however, claims based in Haryana’s Sirsa district and Punjabis, he says, have learnt their les- that the armed struggle in Punjab, headed by Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh. son well from having lived with fear though on the decline since 1995, is Sikhs were offended by an advertis- and violence for years. The last thing not over. Bittu, 46, is still committed ment in which the Sacha Sauda they want is a rerun of those dark days. like many Khalistanis to the notion of chief allegedly imitated the 10th Sikh “I don’t believe there is any chance of an independent Sikh homeland, but Gobind Singh. an ideological revival except amongst now prefers democratic means of Mintu reportedly fled to fringe groups and that too of limited fe- protest that include dharnas and following his alleged involvement in a rocity,” he says. Political parties, he street demonstrations. foiled 2010 bomb plot in Ludhiana for

24 INDIA TODAY ◆ NOVEMBER 14, 2011 NEW Cover story PUNJAB MILITANCY

I N T E R V I E W tor in the Shingar bombing, was Welfare, a registered UK charity col- jeevanis (life stories) of the khadkus. I arrested near Chandigarh earlier this lecting funds to support Sikhs in Indian am often asked to narrate old stories. year in January. jails on terrorism-related charges. Many young people want to revive the According to S.S. Srivastava of the Intelligence Bureau sources said “Pak has always favoured Khalistan” struggle. There are endless discussions Punjab Police counter-intelligence unit, that attempts to resurrect Punjab’s on the Internet. In fact, I would not the majority of material used by mili- terror network still get some funds ‘Khalistan’, the moribund move- with complete freedom of movement. voted for separatists in September’s stand in the way if my sons wanted to tants was smuggled in from Pakistan from sympathisers in North America, ment to carve out an independent Sikh Each khadku (militant) was given SGPC elections (Simranjit Singh Mann’s become militants. via Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Europe, South-east Asia and Australia. nation, has become a fresh excuse for money and facilities as per his position Amritsar, whose Q. So why has the movement Ferozepur and from across the While the majority of this money is Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence in the jathebandi (militant group). We poll plank is Khalistan, polled 5.75 lakh not revived? and Jammu frontiers. In transferred via the hawala network, to revive Sikh militant outfits in its mixed freely with army officers and of the 34.1 lakh votes). There are vol- A. Many operatives these days are September 2009, for example, counterintelligence officials believe territory. The revival, says a top-rank- politicians. The jihadis are brothers. I unteers everywhere. Just go to the vil- former police ‘cats’ (militant-turned-in- Rajasthan Police intercepted explo- that a portion of the Rs 120 crore remit- ing former militant on strict condition remember meeting (Mushtaq Ahmed) lages, you will come across youngsters former). Even Baba Bakshish Singh sives and small arms headed for BKI ted annually to local NGOs is also being of anonymity, is drawing scores of Zargar and Masood (Azhar) many keen to do something for the panth (who bombed Sacha Sauda head cadres in Barmer district bordering diverted to funding terror. young Sikhs lured by the prospect of times in Lahore after they were re- (faith). All they need is the right lead- Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh’s cavalcade Sindh’s Thal Parker where the ISI is Consequently, Punjab’s wary home revenge. This militant, who is respon- leased in Kandahar (1999). ership. Nothing in God’s world ever near Karnal in February 2008) is a known to be particularly active. department recently initiated RENGO sible for some audacious terror strikes Q. Where did you cross the ends. The movement (for Khalistan) former informer. Such people can (Review-NGO), a comprehensive through the 1980s and early ’90s, now border from? can be revived at any time. Many of our never be trusted. The only way he scrutiny of all foreign remittances to lives in three-room house in a village A. Border crossings are not difficult children are going back to . Not can be forgiven is if he sacrifices his QUEST IN AVIRTUALWORLD voluntary groups. “We know that close to the India-Pakistan border. A even today. The rivers are impossible one of them cuts his hair and the best life for the panth. Cyberspace has emerged as a fertile re- religious institutions, charities and new car, a motorcycle, and a tractor to fence or patrol. In Ferozepur, the part is that they do this under no pres- Q. . You fought face-to-face with cruitment ground for Khalistani ac- certain individuals abroad have been parked in the courtyard signal that he Sutlej meanders back and forth across sure from elders. The older khadkus guns. Is it very different now? tivists with over 40 websites and 200 remitting substantial sums to fringe is comfortably off. He lives here quietly the border. We used to slip across are respected and can get volunteers A. It’s the same war, only a different with his wife, two sons and a younger through the khuds often during the on a single ishaara (signal). I even battle. Actually, I don’t agree with the brother. He says Khalistan is merely day. In the old days, we would cross know of a couple of police officers’ sons way Jagtar Singh Tara (of the Babbar awaiting “the right kind of leader- near . It was easy. who would join up. Khalsa) and others are doing things ship”. Excerpts from an interview with One could have driven a “Pakistanis Q. Do young Sikhs now. There are no targets. When these Assistant Editor ASIT JOLLY. Gypsy to Pakistan. want to get involved? people plant bombs, innocents get hurt. Q. Is Khalistan on ISI’s agenda? Q. But the police claim are like our A. Check out the This is no way to organise a movement. A. Pakistan has always favoured militant groups are not own family, Internet. These days Q. Where is Jagtar Singh Tara? Khalistan. These people are like our finding recruits in Punjab. they care everyone has a computer A. In Pakistan. Tara crossed over own tabbar (family), they care for us. A. They forget that for us.” even in villages. Young- after escaping from Burail jail (in We had comfortable homes in Lahore more than five lakh Sikhs sters are avidly reading Chandigarh).

which he had tapped his mining con- goers in Ludhiana. And in 2009, the two Kalashnikov rifles to . in Pakistan to seek help in hiding the SCREENSHOTS OF WEBSITES OF groups that are based in Punjab,” says tacts in Goa to smuggle nearly 80 kg of head of the Narain Chaura, their sixth gang mem- material in a border village,” says Virk. NEVERFORGET84 AND SIKH SANGAT state Home Secretary D.S. Bains. explosive gelignite into Punjab. Police (closely aligned with the RSS), Rulda ber, who had earlier arranged the get- Subsequent arrests revealed that sev- groups on Facebook dedicated to keep- Ahead of the Assembly elections in say Gajinder Singh of the Dal Khalsa, Singh, was murdered in Patiala. The away vehicle for the Burail jailbreak, eral locals, including two close relatives ing the movement for an independent February 2012, police are working who hijacked an Indian Airlines flight group also made several abortive bids managed to elude the police and is still of a former Jasbir Sikh homeland alive. Intelligence offi- overtime to “harden all known targets” to Lahore shortly after Operation to set off IEDs outside the Amritsar rail- at large with at least 5 kg of RDX, accord- Singh Rode and a nephew of Sikh cials say terrorist groups actively by beefing up security around them. Bluestar, is the group’s contact with the way station, the base ing to a police interrogation report. fundamentalist leader Jarnail Singh monitor discussion forums on web Former DGP Gill and additional DGP ISI for logistics support. at nearby Halwara and a gas bottling Senior officials see worrisome signs Bhindranwale, were actively involved portals like www.neverforget84.com Sumedh Saini, both at the forefront Financial support from sympathis- plant in Nabha, 100 km north of increasing Sikh militancy. In in terrorist activities. for potential volunteers. Highly popular of defeating Punjab’s insurgency, have ers in the West, however, has come of Chandigarh. December 2006, for instance, three KCF Ten months later, in October 2007, among the younger generation, this been provided vehicle-mounted down, says Punjab’s newly appointed Security sources say under ISI’s terrorists, including a Wolverhampton, BKI terrorists bombed Ludhiana’s site has scores of pictures, videos and electronic jammers. There is a DGP Anil Kaushik, but he considers BKI tutelage, both BKI and KTF are presently UK, resident Paramjit Dhadhi, were popular Shingar Cinema, killing seven detailed stories about slain terrorists, proposal to provide similar protection as a “formidable” threat. According to recruiting ‘hit men’ from well beyond arrested in Ropar with 11 kg of RDX. people and injuring 20 in what was the extolling their ‘heroic’ deeds against a to former chief minister Amarinder him, the group has been responsible for Punjab’s borders. Last July, Britain’s Former Punjab DGP Sarbhdeep Singh biggest Khalistani terror attack since “callous and repressive” administra- Singh’s cavalcade during the upcoming most attempts to provoke violence in West Midlands Police arrested four UK Virk says the seized shipment was part the May 2005 twin blasts at Delhi’s tion. Another popular website poll campaign. recent years. Consider the evidence: nationals—Paramjit Pamma, Gursha- of a larger consignment that included Liberty and Satyam cinemas. www.prisonerwelfare.com is hosted by It would be an exaggeration to Tara’s emergence as Wadhawa Singh’s ran Bir Singh, Piara Singh Gill and assorted small arms smuggled from Harminder Raj, the principal perpetra- the Sikh Organisation for Prisoner suggest that the situation is already deputy in Lahore after his jailbreak in Amritbir Singh—for allegedly killing across the border near Amritsar six reminiscent of the 1980s and 1990s, 2004 coincided with a spurt in BKI Rulda Singh on Tara’s orders. Soon months earlier. “The KCF made the mis- but the India section of the ISI can con- strikes in northern India. In 2005, there after the Punjab Police apprehended take of approaching some of our (po- UNDER ISI’S TUTELAGE,MILITANTGROUPS ARE gratulate itself. It has lifted the lid of a were explosions in two Delhi cinemas. Pal Singh, a French citizen, and four BKI lice) people who were part of a Sikh near-forgotten coffin and resurected Two years later, a blast targeted movie- terrorists transporting 15 kg of RDX and (pilgrim group) to Nankana Sahib RECRUITING FROM BEYOND PUNJAB’S BORDERS. the vampire of Khalistan. ■

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