New Delhi: US federal law enforcement agencies Thursday arrested suspected terrorist Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Passia, who is accused of orchestrating more than a dozen attacks on police installations and personnel in the state of Punjab.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), along with the Enforcement and Removal Operations of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arrested him in Sacramento, California.
“Today, Harpreet Singh, an alleged terrorist responsible for terror attacks in Punjab, India, was arrested by the #FBI & #ERO in Sacramento. Linked to two international terrorist groups, he entered the US illegally and used burner phones to evade capture,” the FBI said in a post on X Friday.
However, Indian investigating agencies have yet to receive an official notification of his arrest, which they expect in “due course of time”, according to sources aware of the development.
In a post on Facebook, the FBI said, agents from the agencies legal attaché office in New Delhi had informed its Sacramento branch that “Singh was wanted in connection with multiple terror attacks across Punjab”.
“Singh is suspected to have collaborated with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Khalistani terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International (BKI),” it said further, adding that the case “reinforces the importance of cooperation in apprehending those who threaten global security”.
A native of Pashia village in Amritsar Rural District, Passia has emerged as the biggest headache for law enforcement agencies in Punjab with his involvement in at least 14 attacks against police installations in the state. In total, he has 39 cases registered against him in Punjab alone, along with 10 look-out circulars opened against him.
Both the Punjab Police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) have named Passia as the direct conspirator behind the grenade attacks in Punjab, as well as the attack on a retired police officer in Chandigarh in September last year.
The NIA had got an Interpol Blue Corner Notice opened against him and announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh this January for information that could potentially lead to his arrest.
Sources aware of developments said the Punjab Police have already moved a proposal before the Ministry of Home Affairs for declaration of Passia as an individual terrorist. A call to designate him as a terrorist under Section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is yet to be taken, ThePrint has learnt.
In a video statement, calling him a “primary node” behind terror modules running on the directions of ISI, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav said his arrest is a result of prompt information sharing by Punjab Police with the central agencies and subsequently with US agencies.
The arrest of Passia, a “USA-based key operative of ISI-backed Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and close associate of Pakistan-based Terrorist Rinda, is a major milestone in the sustained crackdown on ISI-backed terror networks,” he added.
“An extensive dossier was made after meticulously carried out investigation and shared with central agencies which was eventually shared with US authorities. Already Punjab Police have taken up the matter with the central government and all efforts are underway to secure his extradition.”
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Left India in 2019, escaped to the US in 2021
Passia first left India for Dubai in 2018 and spent nearly a year there before returning to India in 2019. The following year, he left India permanently, heading to the United Kingdom, according to sources in security establishments.
From the UK, he entered the US through illegal immigration channels around 2021, Indian investigators claim.
He was first named in police records when the Tarn Taran district Police booked him in a case related to the supply of more than 6 kg of heroin through drones from across the border in November 2022.
Over time, he allegedly came in contact with the designated terrorist and de-facto chief of the terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Harvinder Singh Sandhu, alias Rinda. He forged an alliance running cross-border terror modules to carry out targeted killings and attacks on police installations in the Punjab, as well as in Maharashtra’s Nanded.
Rinda’s family is based in Nanded, and Paasia is also suspected to be involved in the attempted killing of one person accused of killing Rinda’s brother.
“Passia brought in a fresh set of operatives to the old terror modules run by BKI and other terrorist groups operating from foreign countries at the direction of Pakistan’s ISI,” a source aware of details of cases against Passia told ThePrint.
ThePrint earlier reported how Passia maximised his reach among youths from the border districts of the Punjab, such as Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Batala, to carry out attacks against Police installations.
Passia used one Buta Singh, brother of his roommate in Dubai, to lure two youths from the Amritsar Rural Police district to throw a grenade at the Fatehgarh Churian police post in the city on 3 February this year.
In grenades attack at the Amritsar residence of Congress leader Amandeep Jaintipur and close to a relative of police personnel in Gurdaspur, on 15 January and 17 February 2025 respectively, investigators zeroed in on Passia as an executioner.
Around two weeks before the trio of Mohit, Vishal Bhatti, and Rajveer Singh threw a grenade at Amandeep’s house, he had received an extortion call from Rinda and Passia.
In September last year, Passia lured one Rohan Masih from his village to attack the residence of a former superintendent of police rank officer of the Punjab Police, in Chandigarh’s upscale area. He was provided with a hand grenade and financial assistance by Passia for the grenade attack, Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav had said at the time.
The same case was later handed over to the NIA, which filed a charge sheet in March this year.
In another module that carried out grenade lobbying at police installations Batala and Gurdaspur on 12 and 20 December last year, Punjab Police had zeroed in on Passia as the driving force.
The alleged mastermind of the attack, Abhijot Singh, met one of Passia’s close aides during his brief stay in Armenia last year. The NIA, which was investigating the Chandigarh grenade attack, took Abhijot Singh into custody earlier this month for his alleged role in this case as well.
Shift in his strategy
Born in June 1996 to Gurvinder Pal Singh, Happy dropped out of school, only studying up till Class 8 at a convent school in Amritsar.
His father, primarily a farmer, and the family’s sole breadwinner died in 2012.
The Punjab DGP Yadav said that Passia’s criminal journey first began with an organised gang led by Jaggu Bhagwanpuria. He quickly rose to become the point man for Rinda.
“He started a criminal career as an organised criminal gangster with Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and started criminal activities with USA-based associates Darman Kahlon and Amrith Bal. Subsequently, he went on to become a primary node for ISI-backed terror modules after coming in contact with Pakistan-based Rinda and he directly masterminded a majority of terror activities in the state since September 2024,” Yadav said.
Sources in Punjab Police said that Passia’s name emerged in at least 16 terror incidents between late 2024 and early this year that ranged from attempts of attack through hand grenade, Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) or Improvised Explosive Device (IED).
Officials also emphasised a “marked shift” in his strategy of carrying out terrorist activities between August 2023 to September 2024 onwards. They said that, before September 2024, Passia was working as key coordinator, directing operatives on the ground, who were targeting liquor contractors, businessmen, socio-religious leaders, as well retired and serving Punjab police officers, for the primary purpose of extortion.
However, since then, he has shifted his focus and made Punjab Police establishments his exclusive target. His name came into prominence either directly taking responsibility for the attacks or through collection of evidence and revelations made by his operatives on the ground who were arrested for their roles in those attacks, officials said.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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Harpreet must be deported to India at the earliest. The NIA would be more than Happy to get hold of Harpreet.