New Delhi: Brother to designated terrorist Lakhbir Singh aka Landa, Tarsem Singh was involved in planning the RPG attack at the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in 2022 and channelised funds to India-based operatives linked to banned Sikh militant groups such as Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), according to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Tarsem, believed to be a key aide to both Landa and another designated terrorist Harwinder Singh alias Rinda, was extradited from the UAE to India Friday and arrested by the NIA on charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The agency has termed him a key member of BKI.
“He (Tarsem Singh) has been found involved in several cases abetted by Khalistani groups and gangsters sitting in Pakistan and other western countries, but most important of them was the RPG attack. He was found to be a key element in providing foot soldiers for the attack and providing funding and logistical support for the attack,” a source in the NIA told ThePrint.
Another senior security official said that “Tarsem Singh was in direct contact with Rinda and had paid money upfront to Deepak Ranga, the main shooter in the RPG attack case”. Ranga was arrested by the NIA in January 2023.
The NIA stated Friday that it had found “Tarsem was actively involved in arranging and providing terror funds to India-based associates of Sandhu alias Rinda and Landa. He was also involved in the channelisation of terror funds through multiple routes”.
“These outfits (BKI, ISYF and KLF) are working through operatives/members of terror outfits and organised criminal gangs to smuggle arms, ammunition, explosives, IEDs etc. from across the border. They have been using narcotics trafficking, extortions, hawala trading, etc. to generate funds for carrying out terrorist activities on Indian soil,” the agency further said.
Hailing from Tarn Taran district of Punjab, Tarem was extradited after the Central Bureau of Investigation got a red corner notice opened against his name. He was first arrested in Abu Dhabi in November 2023 after the red corner notice was put out by Interpol on the basis of a non-bailable warrant issued by a special NIA court in an August 2022 case related to activities of members of proscribed militant groups.
“Tarsem first went to the UAE in 2009 and came back in 2017. He visited India around 40 times annually between 2009 and 2017, before leaving finally in 2021,” a second security official told ThePrint.
The NIA had in September last year announced cash rewards of Rs 10 lakh against both Landa and Rinda in a different case registered by the agency.
Rinda has also been chargesheeted by the NIA in a case related to the RPG attack. He was declared as “individual terrorist” by the home ministry in February 2023, while Landa was declared the same in December 2023.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: What India plans to do to crack down on gangsters & Sikh separatists based abroad
If only the Canadian govt had been as co-operative, Khalistani terror would have been exterminated.