As many as 17 Sikh youths were arrested in California on Monday by the police for mass shootings including in gurdwaras, and large amounts of arms and ammunition were recovered from them.
According to the district attorney’s office press release, 41 firearms were recovered from these people. California has the strongest gun laws in the United States.
Among those held were Karandeep Singh, Pardeep Singh, Pavittar Veer Singh, Husandeep Singh, Sahajpreet Singh, Harkirat Singh, Tirath Ram, Dharamvir Singh, Jobanjit Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Nitish Kaushal, Gurminder Singh Kang, Devender Singh, Karambir Gill, Rajeev Ranjan, Jobanpreet Singh, and Singh Dhesi.
Five other people — Amandeep Singh, Harmandeep Singh, Gursharn Singh, Grucharan Singh, and Jaskaran Singh — are yet to be arrested, according to reports.
According to top intelligence officials, this radicalisation is being imposed on the Sikh youths so the handlers get criminal cadres and money in the name of a religious movement.
Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) were the main terrorist groups that started the Khalistan movement.
In the past six years, more than 20 attacks have been carried out in Punjab just on targets from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in a bid to revive the movement.
Investigations have revealed that these efforts are being orchestrated from overseas.
These Khalistani groups collect huge sums of money and send small amounts like Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh to their foot soldiers to carry out the tasks, said officials.
Sources say this is a double game they are playing: on the one hand, their own youth members sitting overseas are becoming radical, and they are also creating a criminal cadre base in India.
Paramjit Singh Pamma, Lakhbir Singh Rode, and nine other notorious Khalistan masterminds are operating out of five European countries and Pakistan, said intelligence officials.
Important ones on the list are Germany-based Gurmeet Singh Bagga and Bhupinder Singh Bhinda of the banned Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), KZF chief Ranjeet Singh Neeta, BKI chief Wadhawa Singh Babbar, and Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) chief Paramjit Singh Panjwar, all based in Pakistan’s Lahore, Hardeep Singh Nijjar (in Vancouver), and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the New York-based founder of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
This is a very successful model of Pakistan where it is engaging Europe, the United States, and Canada, and becoming an important mediator in the conflict, said officials.
The fresh attempt by Pakistan is to put its Khalistani and Kashmiri groups together, and Sikhs For Justice founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an important player in that, they added.
The Pannun model is also important to watch, said the sources. He arranges asylum against huge amounts of money for Indian Sikhs who are affected by his radical thoughts.
Among those held in California, Pavitra Veer Singh is from Gurdasapur and was allegedly involved in narco and other contract killings, said sources. He was involved in the assassination of a Shiv Sena leader in Punjab, they said. It suggests he is operating a gang in India and abroad, they added.
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