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Khalistani outfit leader, aide on NIA’s wanted list
Besides Rode —nephew of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was killed in Operation Bluestar — and Khan, NIA has also declared a reward of ₹2 lakh on another absconding associate Gurcharan Singh, said the officer.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has put Lakhbir Singh Rode, head of International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), a banned Khalistani outfit, and his Pakistani associate Habib Khan on its “most wanted” list and declared reward of ₹5 lakh each on them, people familiar with the development said.
Along with Pakistani spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Rode has been regularly sending consignments of small and large firearms, heroin and explosives packed in tiffins (lunchboxes) from across the border to Punjab to carry out blasts and target political leader, said a senior NIA officer, requesting anonymity. “Operating from Lahore, Pakistan, Rode in last couple of years has activated several workers of Khalistani network, who, in coordination with smugglers, pick these consignments from near the border areas,” the officer added.
Besides Rode —nephew of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was killed in Operation Bluestar — and Khan, NIA has also declared a reward of ₹2 lakh on another absconding associate Gurcharan Singh, said the officer.
Rode has been declared “most wanted” in the September 15, 2021 bomb explosion in Jalalabad town of Punjab’s Fazilka district, in which terrorist Binder Singh was killed, a second NIA officer said, also wishing not to be named.
On March 15 this year, NIA filed a charge sheet against Rode, Habib Khan alias ‘Doctor’ and four others — Sukhwinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Ranjit Singh of Ferozepur, and Parveen Singh of Fazilka.
“Investigation has revealed the conspiracy of Pakistan-based designated terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode, self-styled chief of International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), and his associates to cause multiple explosions at crowded places in Punjab and to cause large-scale causalities and strike terror in the minds of people,” NIA said in its charge sheet.
On the directions of Rode, Pakistan-based narco-terror operative Habib Khan had recruited and radicalised Binder Singh and Sukhwinder Singh and motivated them to plant bombs using pre-assembled Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) smuggled along with heroin from across the border, the charge sheet added.
Investigation revealed that Binder and Sukhwinder received eight pre-assembled tiffin bombs (with training material) besides large quantities of heroin and money, sent by Rode to fund their terror activities, it said. “Prior to the bomb explosion that occurred in Jalalabad, this terrorist gang had also set ablaze a car as well as a few shops in Ferozpur City,” NIA said in its charge sheet.
On September 15, 2021, the duo conducted reconnaissance of a crowded market in Jalalabad town for carrying out explosion. While Binder was trying to retrieve the motorcycle along with the unexploded tiffin bomb, it ended up exploding leaving him dead.
Rode was named as accused on March 4 in NIA’s another charge sheet pertaining to pick-ups of arms, heroin and explosives consignments at Punjab and Rajasthan borders in September 2021.
Apart from ISYF, other Khalistani outfits like Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) are also extensively using Pakistani drones with the help of ISI to arm a movement to destabilise Punjab, the first officer quoted above said.
Multiple assessments by Indian agencies and border guarding force — Border Security Force (BSF) — have warned that use of commercial drones or quadcopters by Pakistani army, ISI and terror groups is a serious threat considering the size of the border, which is difficult to man physically round the clock.
