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Now, ISI grooms gangster Harry Chattha as Rinda’s replacement
Another dreaded gangster of Punjab, Harry Chattha, who is wanted in many cases in north India, is the latest to get settled in Pakistan, state intelligence officials claimed.
Another dreaded gangster of Punjab, Harry Chattha, who is wanted in many cases in north India, is the latest to get settled in Pakistan, state intelligence officials claimed.
According to an official posted in the counter intelligence wing of Punjab police, Chattha reached Pakistan, a day after gangster-turned Khalistani terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda died in a hospital in Lahore.
One of the mastermind of 2016-Nabha Jail break, Chattha, who belongs to Batala in Gurdaspur district, is the ‘A’ category gangster but has not been very active in Punjab barring couple of cases of extortion and kidnapping. He has been on the run since Nabha Jail break in which a group of gangsters freed Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, another militant Kashmir Singh and gangsters Vicky Gounder, Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, Neeta Deol and Amandeep Dhotian had escaped on the morning of November 27 2016.
A dossier prepared by Punjab’s intelligence wing about Chatha revealed that the gangster had managed to reach Spain couple of years back and later moved to Germany. The Intelligence officials dealing with cases of gangsters claim that whereas Rinda died on November 14, a Khalistani terrorist, Paramjit Singh Pamma UK travelled to Pakistan on November 15.
“A person named Jaswinder Singh travelled alongwith Pamma who introduced him to people in the inter-services intelligence (ISI) in a location near Lahore. Jaswinder was actually Harry Chattha,” a top official said who wished not to be quoted. Interestingly, during a press conference on Wednesday as well, Punjab director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav had also claimed that another gangster had reached Pakistan and is under the shelter of the ISI.
He, though, had not taken any name in the press conference. Punjab intelligence officials claim that the ISI was not satisfied with the results of the Punjab related narco-terrorism operations by Rinda as he himself had got addicted to heroin and liquor.
Officials claim after the death of another Khalistani terrorist and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) leader Harmeet Singh alias ‘Ph.D.’, the ISI desperately needed someone to replace him and shelter to Rinda was part of the strategy.
Rinda had conducted anti-Punjab operations using his own links as gangster including grenade attack on Nawanshahr CIA Police Station on November 7, 2021, grenade attack at Police Station Kalma Maur in Rupnagar district. He was the main kingpin behind training the youth to carry three IEDs each of weighting 2.5kgs from Ferozepur to Adilabad of Telengana to create terror. Rinda has also been named as mastermind in the FIR registered in the case related to RPG attack on Punjab Police’s intelligence headquarters in Mohali.
“Now, Chattha has also been pushed into Pakistan as a desperate bid to create disturbance in Punjab. Like, Rinda, Chattha is well-versed with the gangsters in Punjab as well and is a fresh challenge for us,” an intelligence official said.
There has been a trend of Khalistanis enjoying protection of ISI in Pakistan and helping the agency in pushing weapons and drugs into India but shifting of new terrorists into the neighbouring country is a latest trend.
