HP Police step up vigil on Op Bluestar anniv eve
SHIMLA: After the recent incident of Khalistan banners being put up outside the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha complex in Dharamshala, the state police are on high alert in the run-up to the Operation Bluestar anniversary on June 6.
The state police launched an intensive investigation to trace and track the activities of US-based Sikhs For Justice that claimed responsibility for the putting up the Khalistan banners and graffiti at the main gate of the Vidhan Sabha complex in Tapovan with the banned outfit’s self-styled leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannu emailing video and audio messages claiming responsibility for the act.
“Diligent investigation by our special investigation team (SIT) into the Khalistani flag incident led to the unearthing of SFJsponsored modules that indulge in anti-India propaganda,” said Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu. On May 24, the SIT arrested two accused Harveer Singh and Paramjeet Singh Pamma from Ropar district in Punjab and they confessed to carrying out similar acts in Kharar and Kurukshetra besides Ropar.
Both are history-sheeters. Harveer Singh, a truck driver, is already booked in two cases of assault at Morinda and Ludhiana and was in jail for three months. Pamma has six theft cases against him Ropar, Fatehgarh
Sahib and Chandigarh.
The SIT found that the SFJ had set up a network 188 modules in 16 states with the maximum 140 in Punjab, eight in Uttar Pradesh, seven in Delhi, and five each in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh. SFJ modules were also active in Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
The investigation revealed that the SFJ operatives use mobile phone numbers from 14 countries to send out threats and spread anti-India propaganda. Mostly it uses numbers from North America, Australia, the UAE, Malaysia, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia.
The state police have alerted central agencies in this regard.
In view of the tourist rush in the backdrop of the SFJ call for a referendum for a separate Sikh state on June 6, the police have stepped up vigil at popular destinations.
District police officials have been told to keep special security units and bomb disposal squads on high alert and “strengthen the security of dams, railway stations, bus stands, government buildings and vital installations”.
PROBE INTO PUTTING UP OF KHALISTAN BANNERS REVEALS NETWORK OF SFJ MODULES SPREAD ACROSS 16 STATES