scorecardresearch
Friday, March 29, 2024
Support Our Journalism
HomePoliticsPunjab police cracking down on deadly nexus of gangsters, Sikh radicals

Punjab police cracking down on deadly nexus of gangsters, Sikh radicals

Follow Us :
Text Size:

Gangster Vicky Gounder, who was gunned down by police last week, had links with Sikh radicals, procured arms from them.

Chandigarh: The Punjab police claim to have unearthed a deadly nexus between gangsters in the state and Sikh radicals living abroad.

Last Friday, two of the states’ ‘most wanted’ gangsters — Vicky Gounder and Prema Lahoriya — were killed in an encounter on the Punjab-Rajasthan border, close to the international border with Pakistan.

Punjab police claim Gounder had started procuring weapons from ISI-supported Sikh radicals in Pakistan.

DGP Suresh Arora said Gounder alias Harjinder Bhullar had recently obtained an automatic assault rifle from Pakistan through a Hong Kong-based gangster-turned-Sikh radical, Ramanjit Singh alias Romi, also wanted by the Punjab Police.

And while police were working on emerging links between gangsters and Sikh radicals following Gounder’s death, a video emerged recently wherein Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal adviser to the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a US-based rights group, has urged Punjab gangsters to work for the cause of the “Sikh panth”.

In his message to members of Gounder’s gang, Pannun says that they should take bullets for the cause of the Sikhs.

“Your name will then be written in golden letters and remembered for centuries,” he says.

Pannun, who lives in New York, is known for filing lawsuits in US courts against PM Narendra Modi and former PM Manmohan Singh in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots and 1984 anti-Sikh riots respectively.

The SFJ website and Facebook pages have been blocked in India since 2015.

Pannun was booked for sedition in July 2017 when he started a worldwide campaign seeking referendum for a “sovereign Sikh state”.

Nabha jailbreak

In November 2016, four gangsters, including Vicky Gounder, and two Sikh militants had escaped from the Nabha jail near Patiala. Among the militants was Harminder Singh Mintoo, chief of the erstwhile Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), who was arrested by the Punjab police in 2014 in Thailand and was lodged in the high-security Nabha jail since.

The police believe that the escape was made possible with the funds and support provided by Romi, who they claim is in touch with Pakistan-based Sikh militants living in ISI safe houses. Romi had slipped out of the country after jumping bail in June 2016.

Gangsters are on FB

Punjab’s gangs, many of which are believed to be patronised by politicians, have been involved in bitter gang wars, contract killings, extortion, land-grabbing, kidnapping and arms smuggling. This new breed of gangsters also have a heavy presence on social media, which brings them fame.

Their Facebook pages, on which they post their pictures wielding weapons or even while they are in jail, have large followings. Going by what they post, many show great reverence towards slain Sikh militants or those in jail.

CM briefs Centre

In a meeting with Union home minister Rajnath Singh in April last year, chief minister Amarinder Singh had briefed him about this growing nexus between gangsters and Sikh radicals. He said Punjab’s jail personnel were receiving constant threats from such elements and sought central assistance in securing the prisons in the state.

Subscribe to our channels on YouTube, Telegram & WhatsApp

Support Our Journalism

India needs fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism, packed with on-ground reporting. ThePrint – with exceptional reporters, columnists and editors – is doing just that.

Sustaining this needs support from wonderful readers like you.

Whether you live in India or overseas, you can take a paid subscription by clicking here.

Support Our Journalism

2 COMMENTS

  1. why a Press Note got a byline. Yellow journalism at best. Blame everything on Sikhs but never talk about Hindustan treachery since 1947. And when Sikhs talk about their rights, label them as terrorists, secessionist, anti-national or working o behalf of a foreign country.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Most Popular