New Delhi: Eight men of Indian origin were arrested in San Joaquin County, California, Friday as part of a crackdown on gang violence by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Among the eight is Pavittar Singh Batala, wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and linked to the banned terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).
The arrests came days after shots were fired at television host Kapil Sharma’s newly opened café in Surrey, Canada. Harjit Singh alias Laddi, a known member of BKI, had claimed responsibility for the shooting.
In the latest instance, Batala is said to be involved in several criminal cases, including extortion, arms smuggling and murder, in Punjab, and seen as a close associate of Lakhbir Singh Landa, a designated terrorist in India, believed to be in Canada.
This June, the NIA chargesheeted Batala, along with other key associates of Landa, in a Punjab terror conspiracy case.
The others arrested in the US as part of the gang-related kidnapping and torture investigation are Dilpreet Singh, Arshpreet Singh, Amritpal Singh, Gurtaj Singh, Manpreet Randhawa, Sarabjit Singh and Vishal. The operation took place Friday and Batala has been identified as a prime suspect.
According to the San Joaquin Sheriff’s office, five coordinated search warrants were executed across the county by the FBI SWAT Team, working alongside the sheriff’s office, Stockton police department SWAT team, Manteca police department SWAT team and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team, leading to the arrests.
All eight men have been sent to the San Joaquin jail on multiple felony charges, including kidnapping, torture, false imprisonment, conspiracy to commit a crime, preventing/ dissuading a witness, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, threats to terrorise, and felony gang enhancement.
Five handguns, including a fully-automatic Glock, one assault rifle, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, high-capacity magazines, and more than $15,000 in cash were seized during the searches, the sheriff’s office said in a post on X.
“This takedown was part of the FBI’s Summer Heat initiative, a nationwide effort targeting violent offenders and gang members who terrorise our communities. Summer Heat reflects Director (Kash) Patel’s commitment to the American people to crush crime and restore safety in neighbourhoods across the country,” it added.
Indian agencies are said to be in touch with their US counterparts to extradite Batala.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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