Babber Khalsa

Babbar Khalsa International

Formation
Even after the terrorist-secessionist movement for Khalistan was comprehensively defeated in 1993, there remain a handful of terrorist outfits chiefly supported by Pakistan and some non-resident Indian Sikh groups who continue to propagate the ideology of Khalistan. One of the most prominent among them is the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). It is among the oldest and most organised Khalistan terrorist groups.
The BKI traces its origin to the Babbar Akali Movement of 1920 and is believed to have assumed its present form after the Baisakhi 1978-clashes between the Akhand Kirtani Jatha and Nirankaris and more particularly when some followers of Bibi Amarjit Kaur brought out some leaflets styling themselves as Babbar Khalsa after the killing of Nirankari chief Gurbachan Singh, on April 24, 1980. Subsequently, the outfit started targeting all those who sympathised with the Nirankaris.
Sukhdev Singh Babbar and Talwinder Singh Parmar were the founding members of this organisation. The first unit of the BKI was founded in Canada in 1981 under the leadership of late Talwinder Singh Parmar. The outfit at present is active in the USA Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Switzerland and Pakistan. Talwinder Singh Parmar, a co-founder of the BKI, formed the Babbar Khalsa (Parmar) faction in 1992, when he split from the BKI after serious differences erupted between him and its leadership of. The Parmar faction has a presence in the UK, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland.
Objective
The BKI wants an independent Sikh state called Khalistan.
Organisation and leadership
Currently, Wadhwa Singh, who is reportedly hiding in Pakistan, heads the outfit. Mehal Singh is the deputy chief of BKI. Both of them are among the 20 terrorists whom India wants Pakistan to extradite.
Wadhwa Singh is reported to have personally supervised the assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh on August 31, 1995. He is also believed to have masterminded the January 2004 escape of the assassination-accused, Jagtar Singh Hawara, from the Burail jail in Chandigarh.
External Linkages
Available evidence suggests that the Babbar Khalsa is part of a terrorist network sponsored by Germany-based terrorist groups as well as Pakistan’s external intelligence agency—the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)—to revive terrorism in the Indian Punjab.
Media reports in August 2001 said a joint committee was formed in Germany to coordinate the activities of major terrorist organisatoins abroad. Gurdial Singh Lalli of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), Resham Singh of Babbar Khalsa and Harmeet Singh of Kamagata Maru Dal of Khalistan are the prominent leaders of this committee. The ISI is also reportedly keen on forging coordination between Khalistani terrorists, terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir and some fundamentalist groups.
Interestingly, the Pakistan government appointed Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Javed Nasir, a former chief of the ISI, as the Chairman of Pakistan Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (PGPC), the body that administers Sikh shrines in Pakistan. The PGPC was formed in 1999. According to intelligence reports, Sikh terrorists camping in Pakistan are working under the direct supervision of General Nasir. Media reports in April 2002 said the ISI has entrusted the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) with the task of reviving terrorism in Punjab. The LeT will impart arms training to groups like the BKI, the ISYF and the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF). Reports also said the LeT has opened at least eight camps in Pakistan to train the Khalistanis. These are at Kot Lakhpat, Chakwal, Gujranwala, Mianwali, Peshawar, Attock, Shahidan Da Banga and Gulbarg in Lahore.
Available evidence also suggests that the BKI has established a nexus with Dawood Ibrahim, the fugitive Indian underworld kingpin residing now in Karachi. The terrorists were liasoning with the Dawood Ibrahim gang in Mumbai through whom they disposed of stolen cars and trucks to amass money, which was then sent to Wadhwa Sigh for procuring arms and ammunition.
Some reports have indicated that efforts were made by the ISI to help the BKI establish bases in China, but these initiatives were reportedly thwarted by the Chinese, who were not enthused by the project.
Reports in February 2004 indicated that India has initiated efforts to secure the return of Mehal Singh from the French capital Paris. One of the two principal leaders of the group, he is alleged to have left for France from Pakistan during the later part of 2003. Official sources said that his decision to leave Pakistan was influenced by differences with Wadhwa Singh.
Wadhwa Singh's son-in-law Satnam Singh Malian operates from Germany, deflecting surveillance from the former.
Major Incidents
2010
March 25: Three BKI militants were arrested at Rajpura of Patiala District. They were identified as Waryam Singh alias Jasbir Singh alias Giani of Mohali District,Kulwant Singh of Mann Kheri District and Bhupinder Singh of Ropar District. Senior Superintendent of Police R. S. Khatra said that they confessed that they were in constant touch with Italy-based BKI militant Jasvir Singh Jassi, who gave them the weapons to eliminate Baba Bhaniarwala to create unrest in the State. They were paid heavily by Jassi and were asked to step up militant activity in the State, Khatra said. Waryam Singh, who was lodged in Ambala Jail for his anti-social activities, had jumped parole and was declared a proclaimed offender, he said. The trio had made unsuccessful attempts twice to kill the Baba, Khatra said.
March 21: Two militants of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), arrested by Mohali Police, were produced in the court on March 21 and remanded to two-day Police custody.
2008
October 23: Two BKI cadres, Paramjit Singh and Kamaljit Singh, were convicted and sentenced to seven years rigorous imprisonment by a special court in Chandigarh in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh case. The duo, described as human bombs in Police chargesheet, had reportedly planned to revive terrorism and had been trained by BKI head, Jagtar Singh Hawara.
March 21: In a follow-up to the December 31, 2007-arrest of four BKI militants, the Delhi Police on March 20 claimed to have arrested two others of the same group from Jalandhar in Punjab. Deputy Commissioner (Special Cell) Alok Kumar said Jaswant Singh alias Kala (31) and Surender Singh alias Fauji (22) were arrested on March 19 near Sutlej bridge in Jalandhar. One .30 Star make pistol and one .22 Star make pistol with 11 live cartridges were recovered from them. While Kala hails from Muktsar, Fauji is a native of Jalandhar in Punjab, he said.
February 4: The BKI militants arrested in connection with the blast at a cinema hall in Ludhiana on October 14, 2007, have told the investigators that they had approached Naga outfits for supply of arms and ammunition. During their interrogation, the militants told the central security agencies that few Sikh youths had been tasked to kill political leaders including Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir, president of the All India Anti-Terrorist Front M. S. Bitta and former Punjab Director General of Police K. P. S Gill, official sources said. The militants also told the investigators that they had tried to contact NSCN insurgents for procuring of weapons, the sources said without elaborating whether the Punjab militants were able to strike a deal with NSCN militants or not.
January 16: Police in Ludhiana arrested Mohammed Ali a.k.a. Alia for allegedly supplying RDX to the proscribed BKI militants in order to create disruption in Punjab.
January 10: Intelligence inputs on the movement of BKI militants have indicated that fugitive Jagtar Singh Tara who had escaped from the high-security Burail Jail in Punjab in 2004 and managed to cross over to Pakistan has moved up the ladder in the hierarchy of the outfit and is now supervising operations from there.
January 4: The Delhi Police claimed to have foiled an attempt to kill Baba Pyara Singh Paniharewala, a Ropar-based religious leader, with the arrest of four BKI militants, Baljeet Singh, Bikkar Singh, Kulwinderjeet Singh and Tirlochan Singh. On the hit list of the terrorists were four other prominent personalities of Punjab, the police said. Four pistols and 124 live cartridges were allegedly seized from their possession.
2007
December 13, 2007: The Punjab Police foiled an attempt by BKI terrorists to assassinate the Sirsa-based Sacha Sauda (a sect) chief, Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh, and heads of two other sects. The Senior Superintendent of Police (Kapurthala), Rakesh Aggarwal, informed that three members of the BKI module, identified as Gurinder Singh, Zorawar Singh alias Zora and Parmider Singh alias Babloo, were arrested and two Improvised Explosive Devices assembled by using 9.75 kg high quality RDX recovered. The police also seized 300 grams of RDX, two detonators, two timers, 40 cartridges of different bores, four boxes of other explosive material, two kg of copper wire and two mobile phones along with several other articles. Aggarwal disclosed that 12 other BKI gang members, including its kingpin Gurpreet Singh, were still at large.
July 31, 2007: The Additional District and Sessions Judge in Chandigarh awarded death sentence to Jagtar Singh Hawara of the BKI and Balwant Singh, two of the six declared guilty in the Beant Singh assassination case. Three other convicts, Gurmeet, Lakhwinder and Shamsher Singh, were awarded life imprisonment for their involvement in the criminal conspiracy, while the sixth convict, Naseeb Singh, was given 10 years of imprisonment under the Explosives Act along with a fine of INR 10,000. However, since Naseeb, the oldest of the accused at 72, had already undergone more than the sentence awarded to him, he was freed soon after the sentencing.
June 11, 2007: Gurdip Singh Rana, a Babbar Khalsa militant was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after being convicted under the Arms Act at Kurukshetra in the Haryana State. Wanted by the Punjab Police, Rana, who was hiding in the Sujra village of Kurukshetra district, was arrested on October 17, 2005.
June 6, 2007: Punjab Police is reported to have traced the main conspirators of the May 22, 2005-bomb blasts in New Delhi, alleged to be members of the pro-Khalistan outfit, Babbar Khalsa International, in Germany. The police said it had moved an application before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Seema Maini in New Delhi for issuance of letters rogatory seeking information about the suspects from the German authorities, which was granted by the court. The letters rogatory (letter of request) seek information about Satnaam Singh, son-in-law of Babbar Khalsa chief Wadhwa Singh, his wife Sukhwinder Kaur and another woman identified as Kanwaljit Kaur.
May 3, 2007: Intelligence agencies reportedly said that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, are trying to revive militancy in Punjab through sympathisers of Sikh militant groups like the BKI, the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) and Khalistan Commando Force (KCF). Information has reportedly been sent to the Punjab Police about the plans to target towns of Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Pathankot region. Instructions have also been given to monitor the activities of sympathisers of BKI-Hawara, ISYF-Rode, KZF- Neeta and KCF, who are sending funds through hawala (illegal money transfers) to "re-launch their separatist movement."
2006
July 2, 2006: A BKI terrorist, Bachan Singh Sogi, accused of plotting to assassinate the former Punjab Chief Minister, Prakash Singh Badal, his son Sukhbir and former State Punjab Police chief, K.P.S. Gill, is deported by Canada. Sogi was removed from the Riviere des Prairies detention centre in north-end Montreal after Canada's Public Security Minister Stockwell Day rejected his plea challenging a court order.
March 21, 2006: Four BKI terrorists were arrested from Chandigarh in Punjab and one kilogram of RDX, arms and ammunition were seized from their possession. Chandigarh Police arrested the four from the Bus Stand in Sector 12 of the city, Senior Superintendent of Police, Gaurav Yadav, told reporters. Yadav said the arrested disclosed during preliminary interrogation that they were part of the BKI module controlled by Jagtar Singh Tara. The four, identified as Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukhi alias Bullet, Dilbagh Singh, Ranjit Singh, all residents of Ropar district in Punjab and Balbir Singh alias Nepali, a resident of Solan district in Himachal Pradesh, were in contact with other BKI activists and were one of the several modules raised by the outfit for the revival of terrorism.
March 20, 2006: Paramjeet Singh Bheora, 'head of operations' of the Babbar Khalsa International in India, and two of his accomplices who were planning to set up base in Delhi were arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police near G T Karnal road. Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police (Special Cell), Karnal Singh, said Paramjeet and his accomplices Jasbir Singh and Bhupinder Singh were arrested following an exchange of fire. The police official added, "four kilograms of RDX, three detonators, one remote control device along with a wireless set, one timer, three pistols, 39 live cartridges and three fired cartridges were recovered from them. The stolen Santro car in which they were traveling was also seized." Paramjeet was allegedly involved in the assassination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh in 1995 and had taken over control of Babbar Khalsa in India after its previous chief Jagtar Singh Hawara was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 8, 2005.
2005
November 19, 2005: The Punjab Police arrested three Pakistan-trained terrorists of the BKI in the Jagroan district and foiled their plan of a major strike in crowded localities in Chandigarh and Delhi. The police seized 1.2 kilogram of RDX, one pencil bomb, 28 detonators, a timer, 55 AK-47 cartridges, 56 Mauser cartridges and four .9 mm cartridges.
July 17, 2005: Police arrested three BKI terrorists near Madhopur Chowk in the Fatehgarh Sahab district of Punjab. One AK-47 rifle, 25 live cartridges and some explosives are recovered from them.
July 14, 2005: Two BKI terrorists are arrested by the Delhi Police from the Old Delhi railway station in connection with the May 22 blasts at two cinema halls. The terrorists are identified as Dilbagh Singh, a close relative of the Pakistan-based BKI chief Wadhawa Singh, and Surender Singh Kanda, a Kenya-based non-resident Indian, who reportedly worked as a visa agent.
June 16, 2005: The Punjab Police arrested two close associates of Jagtar Singh Hawara from the Ropar district. Swarn Singh and Paramjit Singh alias Bhola were arrested along with 10 kg of RDX, a detonating device switch, 10 PE3A gelatin sticks, two infusion sticks, nine ABCD timers, four highly sophisticated grenades, nine clap switches, one live bomb and two .25 mm Chinese made pistol.
June 8, 2005: Jagtar Singh Hawara, 'operations chief' of the BKI in India, was arrested along with two other accused in the May 22, bomb blasts from the G.T. Karnal Road in Narela Industrial Area of Delhi.
June 5, 2005: A joint team of the Delhi and Punjab Police arrested two BKI activists from Nawanshahar district in Punjab. Bahadur Singh and Gurdip Singh alias Kaka were arrested during raids on their houses at Malpur village and both were associates of Jaspal, an accused in the May 22 cinema hall blasts in Delhi. Two slabs of RDX weighing one kilogram, 11 detonators and cordex wires were recovered from the arrested activists.
June 1, 2005: A day after police arrested BKI activists, Balvinder Singh and Jaganath Yadav, in connection with the blasts at the Liberty and Satyam cinema halls on May 22, the Delhi Police (DP) seized illegal arms and ammunition from a hideout of a BKI terrorist, who is still at large. The DP conducted a raid at the hideout of Jaspal Singh at Inderpuri and recovered 1 kg of RDX, a timer, detonator, a.303 rifle, 20 rounds of ammunitions, a uniform of a Punjab Police head constable and several fake driving licenses.
May 31, 2005: Two BKI terrorists are arrested in connection with the May 22-bomb blasts at two cinema halls in the national capital New Delhi. While Balwinder Singh was arrested from a village at Nawanshahar in Punjab, the other accused, Jagannath, was arrested from Madipur in Delhi. Rupees 2.94 lakh in cash, a kilogram of RDX and two kilograms of gold was recovered from the latter's house.
May 22, 2005: Two explosions are triggered by crude devices at two cinema halls in the national capital Delhi, during the screening of the Hindi film, Jo Bole So Nihal, killed one person and injured at least 60 others. In the first incident at Liberty Cinema on the G. T. Karnal Road, the device reportedly exploded under a seat in the sixth row. The second bomb exploded at the toilet of Satyam Cinema in Patel Nagar.
January 3, 2005: A BKI terrorist who was involved in an assassination attempt on a senior police official in Punjab and wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for various crimes in the US is arrested by the Delhi Police. Prem Pal Singh had stayed in the US, UK, Germany and Thailand for over 16 years using fake passports, said Deputy Commissioner of Police, Deependra Pathak. He was reportedly arrested at a passport office in Delhi when he was approaching agents to procure a US visa on its forged passport. A resident of Bassi Pathana in Fatehgarh Sahib, Prem Pal worked as a Government employee before joining the BKI in 1985.
2004
September 21, 2004: The Punjab Police re-arrests BKI terrorist, Gursewak Singh alias Babla, from a hospital in the Raikot area of Ludhiana district. Babla had escaped from police custody in the national capital Delhi on August 22 while being taken to be produced before a court in connection with a 1998 case relating to sedition and violation of the Explosives Act.
September 8, 2004: Police stationed in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab seized one AK-47 assault rifle from Didar Singh alias Dari, a BKI terrorist, who was arrested in connection with the murder of Baba Jagtar Singh, head of the Dera Akal. According to district police chief Gurkirpal Singh, two magazines and 30 cartridges were recovered from Didar, who is allegedly involved in nine cases of heinous crimes.
April 30, 2004: The US includes the BKI in its Terrorist Exclusion List.
January 22, 2004: Four undertrials, including three accused in the Beant Singh assassination case, escape from the high security Burail jail in Chandigarh. Those escaped included BKI terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara, Jagtar Singh Tara and Paramjit Singh, the three main accused in the assassination.
2002
April 29, 2002: Police thwart a major conspiracy of the BKI to attack Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, VIPs and shakhas (branches) of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with the arrest of five BKI terrorists in Gurdaspur, Punjab. A huge cache of arms and ammunition is seized, too.
2001
August 31, 2001: Punjab police arrest a BKI terrorist. He confesses of plans to revive terrorism in Punjab through setting-off explosions at public places. He also reveals to his interrogators that terrorist leaders based in Britain and Germany, as well as those sponsored by the ISI and residing in Pakistan, were involved in the planning.
August 18, 2001: Under the leadership of the BKI and other groups, pro-Khalistan activists and sympathiseers hold a protest demonstration in front of the Indian consulate in Frankfurt, and burn the Indian tricolour.
June 9, 2001: In a protest demonstration staged at the Indian Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany, against Operation Blue Star, BKI leaders says no Khalistan terrorist should surrender. The rally had allegedly been extended support by Pakistan’s Consulate in Frankfurt.
May 22, 2001: Punjab Police foil an attempt by terrorists to disrupt Ram Navami (Hindu religious celebration) with the arrest of four terrorists and seizure of 3kg of RDX and some arms and ammunition from Harchowal village, Batala district. Manjit Singh, a close associate of BKI’s Mohal Singh had trained the terrorists, to target the Ram Navmi procession. During interrogation, the terrorists reportedly confessed to having crossed over to Pakistan a number of times to bring in arms and ammunitions and to step-up subversive activities in Punjab and Kashmir.
February 28, 2001: British government proscribes Babbar Khalsa, as per the provisions of the new UK Terrorism Act 2000, which became operational since July 2000.2000
October, 27 2000: Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik, two BKI terrorists arrested by Canadian police for their involvement in the mid-air explosion of Air India flight-182 Kanishka, off the Irish coast.
October 14, 2000: The Central Bureau of Investigation and Delhi Police seize a huge quantity of arms, ammunition and 30 kg of RDX, in Libaspur locality in the national capital, Delhi. Official sources believe they were stored there to be passed-on later to a Babbar Khalsa terrorist in Punjab.
August 30, 2000: BKI terrorist arrested in Jalandhar district, Punjab, and a cache of 3.9 kg of PETN high explosives and timers is seized. Official sources say they had been tasked by Wadhwa Sigh to target VIPs in Punjab.
February 2000: Following the June-arrests in Delhi the Babbar network is traced to Ahmedabad and other areas in Gujarat, particularly the border districts.
Gujarat Police arrest a Canada-based Babbar terrorist, who disclosed the BKIs’ underworld connection. Nearly six more suspected Babbar terrorists are arrested subsequently and a BKI plot to abduct former Gujarat Chief Minister Chhabildas Mehta is unearthed and folied.
January 17, 2000: At a meeting in Sacramento, USA, leaders of the BKI discuss the declining interest in the idea of Khalistan among the Sikh community. The modalities for involving the younger Sikh generation, especially those employed in low-paid jobs in the US, is also discussed.
January 6, 2000: A Pakistan based BKI terrorist, who had consented to become a human bomb, is arrested in Jaipur, Rajasthan and 5 kg of RDX, arms and ammunition are recovered from him.
January 2000: Gujrat Police arrest five Babbar Khalsa International terrorists from the Narol locality in the State capital Ahmedabad, following a tip-off from Punjab Police and union intelligence agencies. The terrorists were in Gujarat to raise funds for the revival of Khalistan movement through abductions for ransom.1999
February 26, 1999: Punjab Police arrest four terrorists of the BKI and recover 10 kg of RDX, 1.5 kg of PETN, half a kilogramme of heroin, an AK-56 rifle and a magazine
June 1999: Gujarat Police arrest three suspected Babbar Khalsa terrorists and a local contact and recover some arms and ammuntion.
In the same month a Babbar terrorist is arrested in Hoshiarpur in Punjab. He confesses to his interrogators that he and a Pakistani national entered India and had carried a consignment of five AK-47 rifles and some explosives.
June 11,1999: Police in Baroda, Gujarat, unearth an ISI module and arrest three BKI terrorist and a local Sikh. A Chinese Pistol, two country-made pistols and some ammunition are recovered.
June 1999: Delhi police arrest a suspected suicide bomber, Richhpal Singh, on a mission to kill former Punjab police chief KPS Gill.
July 1999: Delhi police arrest two Babbar Khalsa terrorists with about two-kg of RDX.
June 23, 1999: Amritsar police arrested two smugglers––close associates of Wadhwa Sigh and Mehal Singh. Four kg of explosives is recovered from their possession.1995
August 31, 1995: Human bomb Dilawar Singh assassinates Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh at the civil secretariat in Chandigarh. He allegedly owed allegiance to the BKI.1992
Talwinder Singh Parmar, the alleged mastermind of the mid-air explosion of Air India flight-182 Kanishka, off the Irish coast, killed in Punjab.
1985
June 23, 1985: BKI accused of masterminding the mid-air explosion of Air India flight-182 Kanishka off the coast of Ireland. A total of 329 persons are killed in the incident.