Two ‘Babbar Khalsa’ militants arrested

After seven long years, the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) seems to be back in action, but this time the banned militant outfit is looking to execute a bigger bang, police say.

After seven long years, the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) seems to be back in action, but this time the banned militant outfit is looking to execute a bigger bang, police say. Instead of a separate Khalistan, police claim, it now seeks to resurrect militancy to spread plain terror.

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“We have arrested two operatives, identified as Sarabpreet Singh and Jaswinder Singh. They were tasked by BKI chief Wadhawa Singh to assassinate three religious leaders in Punjab and Haryana,” DCP (crime) Ashok Chand said.

While Jaswinder was arrested from Punjab, Sarabpreet was arrested from northwest Delhi.

Chand said the duo also had orders to eliminate some political leaders during the upcoming Assembly elections in Punjab.

The list of targets had allegedly been prepared by Wadhawa Singh and communicated to Sarabpreet and Jaswinder, who are childhood friends, through one Kulbir Singh who is based in Hong Kong.

“This is the first time that active BKI operatives have been nabbed since the Satyam-Liberty blasts, in which Wadhawa Singh and his son-in-law Satnam had been charge-sheeted, ripped across the city in May 2005,” said a police officer.

Sources said the arrests came following probe into the seizure of a haul of 5kg of RDX from a vehicle found abandoned at the Ambala Cantt on October 13.

Initial questioning of the duo, sources said, has revealed that the consignment was the second of its kind and was intended to eliminate VIPs cocooned in a massive security cover. The first haul of arms and explosives had been received by some BKI operatives around February.

Sarabpreet, who had been on the run since 2006, had been entrusted with creating a base for the outfit in Delhi, and was staying on rent in Shalimar Bagh's Singhal Pura Market since April this year.