Intel agencies warn govt of pro-Khalistan activity
NEWDELHI:Amid the Covid-19 pandemic and recent military faceoff on the India-China border in Ladakh, intelligence agencies have warned the government of pro-Khalistan activities in the country backed by Pakistan’s ISI spy agency and the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) group.
The warning, sources said, mentions that these anti-India activities are being guided by one ISI handler named Abdullah in close coordination with SFJ’s founder Avtar Singh Pannu, who is learnt to have been residing in the United Kingdom.
Abdullah’s name was also revealed during questioning of three arrested suspected sympathisers of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), who were planning to execute targeted killings in various northern states. The KLF supporters were arrested by the special cell of Delhi Police in a week-long operation across Delhi, Punjab and Haryana.
The ISI and SFJ have been advocating secessionist and proKhalistan activities in India for long following which the ministry of home affairs in July last year banned the SFJ for advocating ‘Referendum 2020’, an online campaign for Khalistan, which seeks a separate homeland for
Sikhs. Intelligence agencies have also shared inputs about another person named Pak-based Gopal Singh Chawla, a close aide of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Hafiz Saeed, for his role in pro-Khalistan activities in India. It has been suggested in the warning, which was shared earlier this month, to keep the national capital on high alert ahead of Independence Day. Inputs were shared that KLF group has been tasked by ISI and SFJ for terrorist activity in the national capital, said the source.
As per the information, KLF group is in close proximity with Pakistani ISI handler Abdullah and Avtar Singh Pannu of the SFJ. The KLF group has been tasked to lure youths to the organisation and has been assigned to
indoctrinate youths at the behest of their bosses based in Pakistan, the sources said.
The source further claimed that Abdullah asked them to recruit fresh youth for training in terror camps in Pakistan and promised to provide them weapons like AK-47 assault rifles and sophisticated pistols for their module. The KLF suspects arrested by the Delhi Police have also told police that they were asked by their handlers to get in touch with likeminded people for which they were asked to attend court hearings of arrested militants.
The group was also tasked to take help of social media sites like Facebook to upload incriminating videos with posters, photos and songs supporting Khalistan leaders and the Khalistan movement.