An “active terrorist” of Babbar Khalsa International with alleged links to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) who had planned a terror attack during the Maha Kumbh, was arrested from Kaushambi early Thursday, police said.
The terrorist, identified as Lajar Masih, was nabbed in a joint operation by Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force and Punjab Police.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Uttar Pradesh’s Director General of Police Prashant Kumar said Masih had planned a major terrorist attack during the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj.
“However, due to intensive security checks at the religious gathering, he failed to execute his plan,” he said.
The Maha Kumbh was held at Prayagraj from January 13 to February 26.
The DGP added that the arrest of the terrorist also verifies smuggling of arms and drugs from Pakistan into India.
The DGP said, “Following the failed attempt, Masih had intended to flee India using a fake passport and take refuge in Portugal. He had links with a Babbar Khalsa operative who had already escaped to Dubai with forged travel documents.”
He had been in contact with three ISI agents in Pakistan and was previously jailed for arms and heroin smuggling but escaped from Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar, on September 24, 2024, while undergoing treatment. After his escape, he carried out a targeted shooting in Batala, Punjab, on October 23, 2024, at the behest of Swaran Singh alias Jeevan Fauji, the German-based chief of a BKI module. He then went into hiding in Sonipat and Delhi before resurfacing in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.
The arrest of the terrorist also verifies smuggling of arms and drugs from Pakistan into India with the use of drones. Investigations revealed that Masih had been supplying grenades, which were “referred as potatoes” in code language, to BKI operatives involved in attacks on police checkpoints in Punjab. He had also been in contact with Viresh Singh alias Ravi, a terrorist killed in an encounter in Pilibhit.
According to the Uttar Pradesh Police, Masih maintained ties with an Ajnala-based associate linked to a US-based Khalistani terrorist and another operative hiding in Qatar. His communications were facilitated via encrypted platforms, with investigators now analysing his mobile phone data in the STF cyber lab.
“Masih was using his network in Punjab’s drug and extortion racket to fund terrorist activities. His links to the ISI were reportedly established through an inmate in Muktsar jail, where he was introduced to handlers involved in cross-border arms and narcotics smuggling using drones,” DGP Kumar said.
Masih, a resident of Kurlian village in Ramdas area of Amritsar, Punjab, was nabbed around 3:20 am on Thursday. The operation was carried out in the Kokhraj police station area of Kaushambi, Additional Director General of Police (UP Special Task Force, Law and Order) Amitabh Yash said earlier in the day.
“As per available information, the arrested terrorist works for Swarn Singh alias Jeevan Fauji, the head of the Germany-based module of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and is in direct touch with Pakistan-based ISI operatives,” Yash said.
He claimed that the UP STF succeeded in recovering some explosives material and illegal arms from the terrorist. Among the seizures made are three active hand grenades, two active detonators, one foreign-made pistol and 13 cartridges of foreign make, the officer said.
Besides, a white coloured explosive powder, an Aadhaar card with a Ghaziabad address, one mobile phone without SIM card was also seized from his possession, he said.
Yash said that the arrest was a “major breakthrough in counter-terror operations”, with further investigations underway to track down Masih’s associates.