3 Khalistan outfit members held: Cops

NEWDELHI: The Delhi Police on Saturday claimed to have busted a module of the Sikh separatists group Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF) with the arrest of its three sympathisers who were allegedly planning to execute killings and extortions in various north Indian states on the directions of Pakistan’s Isi-sponsored Khalistan leaders.

Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said at least four persons were on the target list of the arrested men but they could not execute the killings because of the lockdown announced to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“The three had already procured arms and ammunition to execute the killings on the directions of their handlers who are Khalistani militants living abroad and sponsored by Pakistan’s ISI. The lockdown had also foiled their plan to cross over to Pakistan for terrorist training,” said DCP Yadav.

The three men, identified as Mohinder Pal Singh, 29, Gurtej Singh, 41, and Lovepreet Singh, 21, were arrested from Delhi, Punjab and Haryana in separate operations in the last 10 days. Police said three pistols and seven cartridges were seized from them.

Three smartphones including one purportedly containing incriminating videos and photographs related to Khalistani movement were also seized, the police said.

DCP Yadav said that Gurtej, the son of a subedar in the Indian army, was in touch with an ISI handler, Abdullah, apart from having contacts with Avtar Singh Pannu of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a pro-khalistan group banned by the Indian government, and Gopal Singh Chawla, who is based in Pakistan and is a close aide of Hafiz Saeed, co-founder of Lashkar-e-toiba .