'Radical Sikh groups under pressure from ISI to revive militancy in Punjab'

  • | Tuesday | 20th November, 2018

Interrogations have revealed use of jailed cadres, unemployed youth, criminals and smugglers by Pakistan-based Sikh terror groups for facilitating terror attacks. "Intel agencies also said certain parts of Uttarakhand had experienced terror activities with the involvement of Sikh radicals in the recent past. Sikh youths are being trained at ISI facilities in Pakistan. Their larger plan, according to an input accessed by TOI, includes attacking RSS shakhas and Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, as they aim to "inflict large number of casualties".Sikh extremists "may even resort to deploying human bombs" to target prominent RSS and Sikh Sangat leaders, the input said. NEW DELHI: The perpetrators of the attack on a congregation of Nirankaris in Amritsar are yet to be identified but the government and the intelligence agencies have been worried for a while that Sikh militant groups, with the help of Pakistan's spy agency ISI and terror outfits, were making "serious attempts" to revive militancy in Punjab.Several Sikh radical groups have held meetings with representatives of Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba operating in J&K in the recent past and sought support for their operations, an intelligence official based in Punjab said.

NEW DELHI: The perpetrators of the attack on a congregation of Nirankaris in Amritsar are yet to be identified but the government and the intelligence agencies have been worried for a while that Sikh militant groups, with the help of Pakistan's spy agency ISI and terror outfits, were making "serious attempts" to revive militancy in Punjab.Several Sikh radical groups have held meetings with representatives of Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba operating in J&K in the recent past and sought support for their operations, an intelligence official based in Punjab said. They also travelled to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to meet ISI handlers, he added.Multiple inputs shared in the last six months by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) mentioned that Sikh militant outfits - Babbar Khalsa International, Khalistan Commando Force (Panjwar faction), International Sikh Youth Federation (led by Lakhbir Singh Rode), Khalistan Tiger Force and Khalistan Liberation Force - were under pressure from ISI to activate militancy in the state.As part of their plan to revive militancy, Sikh extremists carried out some attacks on RSS-Hindu leaders in Punjab over the last one and a half years. Their larger plan, according to an input accessed by TOI, includes attacking RSS shakhas and Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, as they aim to "inflict large number of casualties".Sikh extremists "may even resort to deploying human bombs" to target prominent RSS and Sikh Sangat leaders, the input said. Leaders of these Sikh outfits operate from Pakistan, the UK, Italy, Canada, Germany and other countries.In March, the home ministry told a parliamentary panel that Sikh youths were being trained at ISI facilities in Pakistan to carry out terror activities in India, adding that Sikhs settled in Europe, the US and Canada were also being "misguided and instigated against India with false and malicious propaganda".The parliamentary panel report said, "Commanders (of Sikh militancy) based in Pakistan are under pressure from ISI to further ISI's plans not only in Punjab but also in other parts of the country. Sikh youths are being trained at ISI facilities in Pakistan. Interrogations have revealed use of jailed cadres, unemployed youth, criminals and smugglers by Pakistan-based Sikh terror groups for facilitating terror attacks."Intel agencies also said certain parts of Uttarakhand had experienced terror activities with the involvement of Sikh radicals in the recent past.

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