Chandigarh: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested Sikh militant Kashmir Singh Galwadi alias Balbir Singh, who had been on the run since his sensational escape from Punjab’s high-security Nabha jail in November 2016.
Galwadi was arrested from Motihari in Bihar, near the Nepal border. He is believed to have been hiding at multiple locations, including Nepal, over the past nine years.
Thirty-seven-year-old Galwadi, a radicalised religious preacher, was lodged in Nabha jail in connection with an assassination attempt on Punjab Shiv Sena leader Harvinder Soni.
He was among six inmates who escaped the high-security prison in Punjab’s Patiala district in a daytime jailbreak executed with the help of at least a dozen armed gangsters dressed in police uniforms, who stormed the prison firing indiscriminately.
Among the escapees were militant Harminder Singh Mintoo, head of the Khalistan Liberation Force, and four gangsters, besides Galwadi.
Mintoo was rearrested within days and died of cardiac arrest in jail in 2018. Gangster Vicky Gounder was killed in a police encounter in January 2018, while Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, Neeta Deol and Amandeep Dhotian were later rearrested and remain imprisoned. The mastermind, Ramanjit Singh alias Romy, was brought back from Hong Kong last August.
The arrest of Galwadi is particularly significant as he was the only one of the six escapees still at large. In addition to five Punjab Police cases in which he had been declared a proclaimed offender, he was also wanted by the NIA in a suo motu case registered in August 2022 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The accused included operatives of banned terrorist organisations, including the Khalistan Liberation Force, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), and the International Sikh Youth Federation. These operatives were accused of smuggling arms, ammunition, explosives, and IEDs across international borders to be used in terrorist acts like bombings and targeted killings.
NIA announced a Rs 10 lakh cash reward in 2023 for any information leading to Galwadi’s arrest.
Originally from Galwandi village in Khanna, Ludhiana district, Galwadi worked as a teacher at the Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School in Khanna. He also served as a Granthi (religious priest) at Gurdwara Baba Bachitar Singh, where he actively participated in religious functions.
According to Punjab Police sources, Galwadi was radicalised in 2013 when he and his associates allegedly conspired to assassinate the head of the sect Dera Sacha Sauda. He was first arrested in September 2013 by Fatehgarh Sahib Police on charges of conspiring to assassinate religious leaders.
Released on bail in the 2013 case, he was then accused of being involved in an attempt on the life of Shiv Sena leader Harwinder Soni in April 2015. Soni, general secretary of the organisation in Gurdaspur, was playing volleyball in a park when he was attacked.
Galwadi and his associates Inderpal Singh and Gurjeet Singh were arrested for the act.
The motive was reportedly revenge for Soni’s alleged role in forcibly removing turbans from Sikh youths during a 2012 bandh, a day before a Sikh student named Jaspal Singh was killed in police firing.
Following his escape from Nabha jail, Galwadi evaded arrest by concealing his identity and living as a sewadaar (volunteer) in various gurdwaras across Nepal. Punjab Police said he refrained from using mobile phones, which helped him avoid detection. Intelligence inputs on his movements and suspected hideouts were shared with the NIA over time.
Galwadi’s affiliations evolved over the years. Initially aligned with Wadhawa Singh Babbar, Pakistan-based chief of Babbar Khalsa International, he later developed close ties with Mintoo. After Mintoo’s death, Galwadi became associated with Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda, a gangster-turned-Babbar Khalsa International operative based in Pakistan since 2020.
In December 2021, Galwadi was booked by the State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) Amritsar in a narco-terrorism case under the UAPA, Explosives Act, Arms Act and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
In the Nabha jailbreak case, a Patiala court in March 2023 convicted 22 individuals, including three escapees—Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, Kulpreet alias Neeta Deol and Amandeep Dhotian.
Punjab Police sources said Galwadi would be brought to the state on production warrants for investigations into the 2013 conspiracy, the 2015 attempt to murder, the 2016 jailbreak, and the 2021 UAPA case.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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