New Delhi: Baljeet Singh alias Baljeet Maur, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Thursday, is an alleged member of the India-banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). He is the brother of Harjeet Singh alias Harry Maur, a key aide of Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla, as well as Sukhdool Singh Gill alias Sukha Duneke—both linked to financing terrorist activities in India.
Additionally, the NIA has assessed Baljeet Singh’s role in identifying new extortion targets in India and providing logistical support to operatives on the ground—a key function in the gang led by suspected KTF member Arsh Dalla.
Baljeet, from Bathinda’s Maur Kalan village, was taken into custody by NIA officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport upon his deportation from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Baljeet’s deportation comes a couple of months after Indian investigative agencies managed to extradite one Tarsem Singh, brother of designated terrorist Lakhbir Singh aka Landa and aide to another designated terrorist Harwinder Singh alias Rinda from the UAE.
“NIA investigations have revealed that Baljeet was involved in providing logistics support, identification of extortion targets, recruitment of new cadres, as well as terror funding to India-based associates of accused Arsh Dalla. He was a key-conspirator in the KTF conspiracy to unleash terror in Punjab in the case registered suo moto by NIA on 13th February 2024,” the agency said after his arrest Thursday.
KTF chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed outside a gurdwara in British Columbia in June last year. Canadian authorities have linked his death to an organised gang allegedly supported by India, resulting in a diplomatic tension between Ottawa and New Delhi.
NIA sources stated that Baljeet Singh is named in only one case of the national counterterrorism agency, but there are four cases in his home district of Bathinda linked to him. Additionally, both he and his brother Harry Maur have been named in two of the four FIRs.
In one of the FIRs filed by the Punjab Police in September last year against the brothers, a Bathinda businessman named Prince Kumar alleged that he had received two extortion calls from international numbers. The first call, which he claimed came from a number with the Portugal country code, occurred on 12 September last year, followed by another call with a UAE country code on 17 September. In the second extortion call, Prince Kumar alleged that the caller identified himself as Baljeet Singh and threatened him, telling him to pay the demanded money or face the consequences.
The Punjab Police booked the Maur brothers under various sections related to extortion and criminal intimidation of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC).
In the second FIR naming Baljeet, which was also filed under IPC sections relating to extortion and criminal intimidation, plus criminal conspiracy, earlier this year in February, the Punjab Police also named Sikh separatist Arsh Dalla.
In this FIR, which ThePrint has accessed, another Bathinda businessman alleged that he received a call from Baljeet demanding an extortion payment of Rs 15 lakh on 18 February this year. Two days later, the businessman claimed that Baljeet made him speak to Arsh Dalla, who also threatened him for extortion. The cycle of extortion calls continued from 27 to 29 February, during which they revealed that their henchmen were in Bathinda and that he should hand over the money to them.
Although the other two FIRs did not name Baljeet Maur or his brother Harry, sources in Punjab Police confirmed to ThePrint that those extortion calls were made at the behest of Baljeet.
Allegations against Baljeet, his brother
NIA officials identify Baljeet as a key operative collaborating with Arsh Dalla and Australia-based Gurjant Singh, another alleged KTF operative, to fund the recruitment of new cadres and the procurement of arms for KTF.
In the NIA FIR, filed on 13 February last year, the agency reported government intelligence indicating that Baljeet, along with Gurjant, and others—Prince Chauhan, Aman Purewal, and Pakistan-based Bilal Mansher—was involved in a conspiracy to smuggle arms and narcotics into India.
The NIA further reported that Baljeet and his associates were raising funds for terror activities by extorting members of the business community in Punjab and neighboring states. The agency noted that these extorted funds were routed through hawala channels to procure arms and ammunition, to further terror activities in India.
“The Central Government has received reliable information that (1) Baljeet Singh @ Baljeet Maur s/o Gurtej Singh native of village Maur Kalan, District Bathinda, Punjab, who is presently residing in the UAE, (2) Gurjant Singh in Australia, (3) Prince Chauhan in Canada, (4) Aman Purewal in USA, (5) Bilal Mansher r/o Pakistan who are members of proscribed terrorist organization Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) have conspired with their associates to smuggle arms and narcotics into India, raise funds for activities of KTF through extortion and targeted/contract killings to create terror in the minds of people in the State of Punjab and they are also involved in recruitment of persons for carrying out their terrorist activities,” the NIA had noted in its FIR.
Baljeet’s brother, Punjab gangster Harry Maur was arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell in October last year from Faridabad.
After his arrest, HGS Dhaliwal, the then Special Commissioner of Police for the Special Cell, identified Harry as one of the last prominent operatives on the ground for the Arsh Dalla–Sukha Duneke gang. He is also one of the main accused in the 2022 murder of British kabaddi team captain Sandeep Nangal Ambian.
On 23 November last year, the NIA took custody of Harry Maur from the Delhi Police, filing a chargesheet in May that identified him as a member of a sleeper cell run by Arsh Dalla. The agency further described Harry as Dalla’s designated shooter, assigned to carry out targeted killings on Dalla’s orders.
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