Cracking down on the violence, arson and terror allegedly unleashed by the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) under the guise of Referendum 2020, the Punjab Police on Thursday busted a Pakistan-sponsored terrorist module, Khalistan Gadar Force, with the arrest of one Shabnamdeep Singh from Patiala.
The police claimed that Shabnamdeep Singh alias Maninder Lahoria was asked by his Pakistan-based handlers to target police posts and crowded places during the upcoming festival season. They added that a pistol, a hand grenade, a motorcycle and letter pads in the name of ‘Khalistan Gadar Force’, and other terrorist outfits were seized from his possession.
The state DGP Suresh Arora said that Shabnamdeep’s arrest has exposed the nexus between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency and Gurpatwant Singh Pannu's fringe outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) as one of his handlers had identified himself as an SFJ operative.
Arora said that Shabnamdeep hails from Daftari Wala Burar village in Patiala district and was out on bail in a case registered in Rajasthan.
Shabnamdeep was operating a Facebook account under a pseudonym ‘Lahoria Jatt Gill’, and the account had a profile picture of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the DGP said. A preliminary investigation has revealed that Shabnamdeep was contacted by Javed Khan Wazir, a suspected Pakistani intelligence officer, in July 2018, and was introduced to a Pakistani Sikh, the DGP said, adding that Shabnamdeep was then introduced to Nihal Singh, who identified himself to him as an SFJ operative.
Nihal and Wazir communicated regularly with Singh and used to incite him to indulge in arson, he said adding that they asked him to record his acts of arson and share with them the videos with details of news reports about the incidents.
“Wazir shared the logo and name of ‘Khalistan Gadar Force’ with Shabnamdeep and asked him to get letter pads printed to use them for issuing statements claiming acts of arson,” the DGP said. He added that Shabnamdeep and his handlers created a Facebook page in the name of ‘Khalistan Gadar Force’.
Arora said that Wazir asked Shabnamdeep to carry out targeted killings and also promised him Rs 10 lakh for each act of violence. In the second week of October 2018, Shabnamdeep was asked by his handlers to procure a new phone and install a new messaging application for further communication, the DGP said, adding that around October 24, a pistol and grenade were delivered to Shabnamdeep advising him to use the same on some Police Station or Police Post and crowded place during the ongoing festival session.
DONT FALL PREY: DGP TO PUNJAB YOUTH
The state top cop said that the organisation is patently preying on the poor, illiterate and devout Sikh youth from the Punjab countryside and radicalizing them.
“The youth are being exploited by SFJ, which is using their poverty and credulity as cannon fodder to unleash violence and promote secessionist acts in the state,” said the DGP while appealing to Punjab’s youth not to fall into the trap of such anti-national and secessionist forces out to destroy their lives by pushing them into violence and arson.