NIA arrests wanted Kulwinderjit Singh from Delhi airport
22 November, 2022 | Vaishali Sharma
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has apprehended wanted terrorist Kulwinderjit Singh alias Khanpuria, who has links to terrorist organisations including as Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) ...
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has apprehended wanted terrorist Kulwinderjit Singh alias Khanpuria, who has links to terrorist organisations including as Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF).
Khanpuria, who had been missing since 2019, was apprehended at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on November 18 after he came from Bangkok, the NIA said on Monday.
The arrested terrorist was involved and wanted in many terrorist cases, including the conspiracy to carry out targeted killings in Punjab. He was also involved in a bomb blast case in Connaught Place, New Delhi and grenade attacks in other states in the nineties.
Investigations have revealed that Khanpuria is the chief conspirator and mastermind behind the conspiracy to carry out terrorist attacks in India by targeting establishments connected with Dera Sacha Sauda and those belonging to police and security in Punjab.
Besides, the NIA said, Khanpuria was also targeting senior officers of Bhakra Beas Management Board, Chandigarh, with an overall objective of creating terror in Punjab and across the country. “Khanpuria had also carried out reconnaissance of some of the targets.”
The case was initially registered on May 30, 2019, at Police Station State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar and re-registered by the NIA on June 27, 2019.
Khanpuria, along with his handlers and associates, based in India and abroad in different South-East Asian countries, had planned and conspired to commit terrorist attacks in India, said the NIA, adding “Khanpuria later managed to flee from India.”
“While he was based abroad, he first collided with Harmeet alias PhD, and now with wanted Pakistan-based ISYF Chief Lakhbir Singh Rode to use his India-based terrorist associates for targeting the identified individuals as well as establishments,” the counter-terrorism agency said.
Khanpuria was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) by the NIA Special Court in Punjab, and Interpol issued a LookOut Circular (LOCu) and a Red Corner Notice against him. The NIA had also announced a Rs 5 lakh cash reward for information leading to his arrest. On November 21, 2019, he was charged as an absconder.
Notably, four co-accused Khanpuria conspirators had previously been apprehended following the discovery of rifles and ammunition from their hands.