Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh is suspected to have met some pro-Khalistan entities (PKEs) in Dubai where he lived before returning to India last year. Intelligence agencies have found that PKEs held multiple meetings over the past two years to promote Khalistan among youth in Punjab and other parts of the country, sources said.
Amritpal has since taken charge of ‘Waris Punjab De’ after the death of the organisation’s founder, actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu. But he is only one of the many players that intelligence agencies are learnt to be keeping a track of, with focus particularly being on Dubai as a touchpoint.
According to sources, there are various terror financing cases in which the NIA is probing Khalistani entities with Dubai links. But, so far, agencies have not managed to gather anything on Amritpal, who was working in a company called Sandhu Cargo which is linked to his close relative in Dubai.
Sources further said a three-page note with details of movements has been drafted and circulated among different probe agencies recently. These are developments related to terror outfits and pro-Khalistani entities in the Middle East, they added.
Sources said he completed his initial education in Kapurthala, moved to Dubai for work, lived and worked there for almost a decade in different profiles.
Last week, Amritpal’s supporters burnt chairs and sofas laid out in the Model Town Gurdwara in Jalandhar and also wanted to sit at the same level as the Guru Sahib. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has already raised questions over his stay in Dubai.
Link Between Pro-Khalistan Outfits, J&K Terrorist Groups
Since 2019, intelligence agencies have noted increased coordination between terrorist groups from Jammu and Kashmir and pro-Khalistan outfits. For them, most worrisome is the Middle East, especially Dubai, becoming a central point for a tie-up from where mafias are arranging supply of drugs, arms and ammunition in Punjab.
The agencies found that youth working in Dubai had been contacted and a list of a dozen such people is being prepared, sources said. Many were in touch with drug dealers operating in Punjab from Dubai, they added.
Intelligence Bureau e-Book Hints at Tie-Ups
An Intelligence Bureau e-book also hinted at the increasing number of tie-ups between terror outfits and pro-Khalistan entities.
“Groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) are getting together more often, trying to devise an altogether different strategy of smuggling drugs through drones. In August 2022, 38 kg heroin was seized in Punjab’s Nawanshahr from a truck coming from Gujarat,” the book stated.
“Pakistan-based KLF chief Harmeet Singh and Dubai-based drug dealer Jasmeet Singh Hakimzada are running a drug smuggling ring in Punjab to finance terror. With Pakistan’s role in J&K terror funding exposed, for Punjab, the drug route is used to wash off hands from financing terror in Punjab,” it states.
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has provided weapons, explosives, training and IEDs besides providing operational funds.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment