New Delhi, January 4
With the arrest of four terrorists of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), the special cell of the Delhi Police today claimed to have foiled their nefarious plot to target certain VIPs in Punjab, including religious guru Baba Pyara Singh Bhaniarawala based in Ropar district.
According to Karnal Singh, joint commissioner, special cell, the arrested terrorists had even done a recce of Baba Bhaniarawala’s ashram and were planning to assault him on January 5. “The terrorists have revealed during interrogation that they had visited Baba Bhaniarawala’s ashram in Ropar and realised that a weapon could be smuggled inside the ashram in a milk container, as they are not checked. They were to target the Baba tomorrow, but our team foiled their plot”, Karnal Singh said. He, however, did not reveal the name of other VIPs who were on the hit list of the BKI. He said the Punjab Police had been provided the information and the Delhi Police special cell was working in coordination with it.
Two BKI militants Baljeet Singh, alias Bahu, a resident of Mohali, and Bikkar Singh, alias Bant Singh, of Sangrur district, were apprehended from Patiala and the Mahala Chowk, Sangrur, respectively, on December 31, 2007. While their accomplice Kulwinderjeet Singh, alias Happy, was arrested from Ludhiana district, another accomplice Tirlochan Singh, who is a driver with the Haryana Roadways, was arrested from Panchkula on January 2. Four pistols and 124 live cartridges were recovered from their possession.
Baljeet Singh, who is a close associate of Jagtar Singh Hawara who has been sentenced to death for the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, had provided Harwara with logistic support when he had escaped from the Burail prison in Chandigarh. The duo had developed friendship while Baljeet was lodged in the Burail Jail in a cheating case. After release from the Burail jail, he remained in Chandigarh and when Hawara escaped from the prison Baljit provided him with a vehicle and made arrangements for his food and stay. He was arrested
in 2005 for providing support to Hawara. He was lodged in the Nabha Jail, where he came in contact with Daya Singh Lahoria, a top militant of the Khalistan Liberation Front. During interrogation Baljeet also revealed that the mentors of the BKI based in foreign countries were trying hard to carry out terrorist activities in Punjab and were providing financial and logistic support to militants.
After his release, Baljeet contacted Satnam Singh, son-in-law of Wadhawa Singh, in Germany for support and further course of action. He then contacted Cheema in the USA and Jagtar Singh Tara in Pakistan for financial aid, arms and explosives. All these mentors of the BKI started extending financial and other logistic support to them for carrying out terrorist activities in the country. To prove his worth to the BKI masters, Baljeet conspired with his accomplices to eliminate Baba Bhaniarawala.
While Bikkar Singh is a school dropout, Kulwinderjeet Singh has a garment shop and was wanted in several cases of bomb blasts, including in Delhi, Panipat and Jaipur.
