Following intelligence inputs, the Patiala police on Thursday claimed to have busted an ISI-sponsored terror module, the Khalistan Gadar Force, with the arrest of Shabnamdeep Singh from here. The police linked the module with the US-based Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), saying that its plan was to target a police station or a market during the ongoing festive season.
The Samana youth was in touch with Gopal Singh Chawla, former secretary general of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), a top police officer said.
“Shabnamdeep was planning to attack police stations/posts and crowded places. A pistol, a hand grenade, a motorcycle and letter pads belonging to the Khalistan Gadar Force and some banned terror outfits have been recovered from him,” confirmed Patiala SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu.
“The arrest has exposed the nexus between Pakistan’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun’s fringe outfit (SFJ). It proves once again that the SFJ continues to spearhead and promote the Sikh Referendum-2020 campaign through violence and arson,” said state DGP Suresh Arora, adding that “the SFJ is preying on poor, illiterate and devout Sikh youths from Punjab’s countryside and radicalising them.”
Arora said Shabnamdeep alias Maninder Lahoria alias Sheru Deep of Daftari Wala Burar village, Samana (Patiala district), was currently out on bail in a case registered in Rajasthan. “He was operating a Facebook account under the name of ‘Lahoria Jatt Gill’ with a profile picture of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In July 2018, he was contacted by Javed Khan Wazir, a suspected Pakistani intelligence officer, and introduced to Pakistani Sikh leader Gopal Singh Chawla. He was further introduced to Nihal Singh and another person, who told him that they were SFJ supporters. They asked him to promote Sikh Referendum,” the DGP claimed.
Following intelligence inputs, the Patiala police on Thursday claimed to have busted an ISI-sponsored terror module, the Khalistan Gadar Force, with the arrest of Shabnamdeep Singh from here. The police linked the module with the US-based Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), saying that its plan was to target a police station or a market during the ongoing festive season.
The Samana youth was in touch with Gopal Singh Chawla, former secretary general of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC), a top police officer said.
“Shabnamdeep was planning to attack police stations/posts and crowded places. A pistol, a hand grenade, a motorcycle and letter pads belonging to the Khalistan Gadar Force and some banned terror outfits have been recovered from him,” confirmed Patiala SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu.
“The arrest has exposed the nexus between Pakistan’s spy agency Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun’s fringe outfit (SFJ). It proves once again that the SFJ continues to spearhead and promote the Sikh Referendum-2020 campaign through violence and arson,” said state DGP Suresh Arora, adding that “the SFJ is preying on poor, illiterate and devout Sikh youths from Punjab’s countryside and radicalising them.”
Arora said Shabnamdeep alias Maninder Lahoria alias Sheru Deep of Daftari Wala Burar village, Samana (Patiala district), was currently out on bail in a case registered in Rajasthan. “He was operating a Facebook account under the name of ‘Lahoria Jatt Gill’ with a profile picture of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In July 2018, he was contacted by Javed Khan Wazir, a suspected Pakistani intelligence officer, and introduced to Pakistani Sikh leader Gopal Singh Chawla. He was further introduced to Nihal Singh and another person, who told him that they were SFJ supporters. They asked him to promote Sikh Referendum,” the DGP claimed.
