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| Recovery of DR posters sends alarm bells ringing in Pb, J&K | | Confirms link between Khalistani, Kashmiri militants | |
JAMMU, May 05:
The April 19 recovery of Dashmesh Regiment (DR) posters from Simble Spol, the last Punjab village on the International Border (IB) close to the J&K's Rajbagh in Kathua, has sent alarm bells ringing in the two neighbouring states.
DR -- a militant group which is part of Khalistan movement -- counts moderate Sikhs, Hindus and the government among its sworn enemies. Police had come across the DR posters while combing Simble Spol from where five-odd Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants had infiltrated after breaching barbed wire fencing on April 19.
While two of them, who had a brief gunbattle with J&K police at Hariachak in Rajbagh on the April 19 evening, were killed on April 25 by Punjab police in an encounter at Ratarwan near Simble Spol, there was no trace of the others as of today.
Police sources said the posters carried anti-India propaganda and were meant to be delivered to Sikh militants or their sympathisers either in Punjab or in J&K.
Astonishingly, these were being carried by the LeT infiltrators which was an evidence in itself that a tie up had come up between LeT and Sikh terrorist outfits to foment trouble in India.
"The ISI has created a common front between the Khalistani and Kashmiri militants to give impetus to the hitherto waning militancy on this side of the border," the sources added. Sources said the recovery of posters had raised serious security concerns in Punjab and J&K. It also showed that Sikh militant groups, especially those based abroad, continued to persist with their efforts to revive terrorism in Punjab, the sources added.
Sources said police of Punjab and J&K were in the process of adopting an integrated approach to counter this new threat.
"They have, however, already agreed in the recently held SSP-level meetings to share information on regular basis," the sources added.Sources said if need arose, cops of two states could also go for joint patrolling in the border areas falling on the dividing line
between the two states.
Quoting intelligence inputs, sources said pro-Khalistan terrorist outfits -- Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) and Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) -- which had their offices in
Pakistan, continued to work in close coordination with LeT and ISI to revive terrorism in Punjab.
The DR too had its offices in Pakistan, the sources added, saying its founding members -- Amrik Singh, Damdami Taksal Wale and Shabeg Singh, all associated with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale -- were said to be in Pakistan.
Sources said those active in Pakistan for the revival of Sikh terrorism in Punjab and J&K included ISYF's Lakhbir Singh Rode, BKI chief Wadhawan Singh, KZF chief Ranjit Singh Neeta, KCF chief Paramjeet Singh Panjawar and Dal Khalsa leader Gajinder Singh.While the others originally hail from Punjab, Neeta was resident of Simble Camp, a locality on the outskirts of Jammu. Neeta had exfiltrated to Pakistan along with his wife over a decade back when police were hunting for him for his involvement in several
militancy related incidents in J&K and Punjab. Sources said he was in regular touch with some of his contacts in the winter capital here.
There were indications that the ISYF had developed strong links with LeT and ISI over the last two decades. Sources said there was credible information to show that the
remnants of separatist groups in the UK, Germany, Canada and Pakistan were regrouping. India has time and again accused Pakistan of providing sanctuary to
the leaders of various Sikh militant groups, besides supporting armed separatists in Kashmir and the country's north-east. The ISI was now focussing its attention on the Punjab region, the sources added, saying it was now promoting ISYF, BKI, KCF, KZF and Khalistan Liberation Force of Pritam Singh Sekhon.
The ISYF, banned in India under the Prevention of Terrorism Act on March 22, 2002, was believed to be the most active Sikh militant group based in Pakistan. It had its offices at various places in the UK, Germany, Canada, and the United States. Its head had been living in Pakistan’s Lahore city since 1991, the sources added.
Sources said there were confirmed reports that the ISI had been providing training camps, funds, arms and ammunition to Khalistani separatist groups on its soil.
In 2005, Intelligence Bureau (IB) had released a report that warned of the revival of Sikh militancy in Punjab. The IB report stated that ISI had chosen LeT and five other
pan-Islamic terrorist organisations to train ISYF and BKI cadres in the handling of arms and ammunition and methods of infiltration into India through J&K borders, the sources added.
Sources said the ISI was also trying to rebuild its network in Punjab and J&K by roping in unemployed Sikh youth. Police in both the states had been asked to expand network in the areas where militant activities could flourish.
Sources said ISYF’s links with pan-Islamist militant groups date back to the mid-1990s. It was stated to be the first Sikh militant group to have interacted with the LeT ideologues.
Sources said LeT had a common office with ISYF outside Nankana Sahib, a small town in the West Punjab region of Pakistan. As the Indian agencies were in knowhow of all these developments, preventive steps had already been taken and border troops put on
high alert, the sources added.
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