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Nabha, Bargari cases linked Khalistanis, gangsters: NIA
NIA filed the charge sheet against Canada based Satinder Singh alias Goldy Brar and jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in its investigation
The Bargari agitation in 2015 and Nabha jailbreak in 2016 brought North India based gangsters and Khalistanis together, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said in a charge sheet filed in March, details of which are only emerging now, that claimed that this alliance, and active involvement by Pakistan’s spy agency created a network involved in high-profile killings, and smuggling of drugs and arms.
NIA filed the charge sheet against Canada-based Satinder Singh alias Goldy Brar and jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in its investigation into a nexus between the North Indian gangs and Khalistani terror groups.
“The Bargari Morcha (agitation) which started after the sacrilege of Guru Granth Sahib in Faridkot in (October) 2015 and subsequent police action on agitators provided a public space to radical extremists. Many Sikh radicals held a protest in Bargari with the support of pro-Khalistani elements (PKEs) based abroad, in guise of ‘Kaum Vaaste Kamm’ (task in the name of religion). The PKEs used this opportunity and started their nefarious activities to disturb the hard-earned peace and unity in the state,” NIA said in its charge sheet, a copy of which has been reviewed by HT.
“These PKEs started identifying and executing killings in the garb of ‘Kaum de Dushman’ (enemies of the religion). Radicalising innocent people, they started using the large pool of people gathered at Bargari Morcha and such other options, across the state, for terror activities. It has been revealed in numerous investigations that most of these accused were radicalised after the incident,” the charge sheet said, adding that the PKEs, however, faced a major problem as they didn’t have foot-soldiers who were ready to execute the killings on the directions of terror groups based abroad, and lacked logistical support in terms of supply of weapons, training, and access to vehicles and safe havens.This is where gangsters came handy.
The charge sheet mentions that Pakistan-based and now deceased chief of Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) Harmeet Singh alias PhD was first approached by a dreaded gangster Dharminder Singh alias Gugni (lodged in Ludhiana) seeking “weapons for the Kaum (religion)”.
Gugni , it added, provided weapons to Hardeep Singh alias Shera and Ramandeep Singh alias Canadian who embarked on a spree of targeted killings with their victims including Brigadier (retd) Jagdish Gagneja (vice president of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, Punjab), Shiv Sena leaders Durga Das Gupta and Amit Sharma, RSS leader Ravinder Gosain, and some Dera Sacha Sauda followers.
“It was for the first time Punjab witnessed such large-scale targeted killing after the end of terrorism in 1995,” said the charge sheet.
The agency added that this successful terrorists-gangster nexus was cemented by the sensational Nabha high security jail break in November 2016.
“Such a daring act was not witnessed even during the heydays of militancy in Punjab. The jailbreak was successful manifestation of terror- gangster association which led to escape of two dreaded terrorists – Harminder Singh alias Mintoo (chief of KLF) and Kashmir Singh Galwandi (a KLF terrorist) and four gangsters,” NIA added.
The planning, execution and capabilities shown by gangsters in the jail break caught the eye of terrorist organisations. The mastermind of Nabha jailbreak, Ramanjit Singh alias Romi was detained in Hong Kong. A US based Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is believed to be providing him legal support.
But it isn’t always one-way, the charge sheet explained.
It said the Pakistan-based Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) leaders, Wadhawa Singh and Harwinder Singh Rinda were searching for experienced killers and shooters in India.
“This is where (the) Lawrence Bishnoi gang fitted into the scheme of things. His syndicate is spread across the states (and Union territories) that include Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand”. For the Indian gangs, the PKEs and terror groups provide an avenue to access sophisticated weapons, launder money, and settle members abroad “with the help of PKEs who are well settled in various countries across the world” the charge sheet said.
The charge sheet added that in several attacks planed by BKI , such as the one on Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in May 2022, or the one a police station in Sarhali, Tarn Taran (December 9, 2022), “the executioners were from outside states like Haryana, Delhi, and UP”.
And there is a further pay-off for the PKEs, the charge sheet claimed, saying that its investigators found that a considerable amount of money generated by Lawrence Bishnoi through his activities is being sent to Canada, US, Thailand and Australia for the use of foreign based gang members, and “also for funding of PKEs”.
The agency has compared Bishnoi gang with what D-Company of Dawood Ibrahim was in 1990s. Bishnoi’s gang has 700 members, who, NIA says, have generated crores of rupees over the years. Overall, close to 300 gangsters and mid-level criminals have been arrested by the NIA and the Delhi Police as part of a larger crackdown since August last year.
