Lakhbir Singh Rode's aide Paramjit Singh Dhadi held at Amritsar airport

Amritsar, December 5

The police on Tuesday arrested an associate of deceased Khalistani terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode from Amritsar.

UK-based Paramjit Singh Dhadi was nabbed by the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC), Amritsar, from Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport.

“The SSOC has busted a terrorist recruitment, funding and aiding module with the arrest of Paramjit Singh alias Punjab Singh alias Dhadi,” said DGP Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday.

Paramjit Singh, a British citizen and founding member of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), was involved in terror activities in Punjab in early 90s. He was arrested in 2003 and was convicted in cases pertaining to terrorist activities. After completion of his sentence, the accused returned to the UK but continued his activities in the ISYF by working as a motivator, recruiter and fund raiser for the organisation, said the DGP.

The DGP said in 2021, Paramjit Dhadi’s name was figured for his involvement in reorganising the ISYF cadre in Punjab by arranging and providing funds and hardware to target specific persons for disrupting peace and harmony in the state. Following Dhadi’s involvement in terror funding and other subversive activities in Punjab, an lookout circular was issued, he said.

Terming it yet another major blow to the terror module attempting to disturb peace in the region, the DGP said investigation was on to unearth the whole terrorist network.

Sharing more details, AIG, SSOC, Amritsar, Sukhminder Singh Mann said accused Dhadi was detained by the immigration authorities at the airport, while he was going to board a plane to the UK on a British passport in the name of Punjab Singh.

Subsequently, the accused was arrested in a case registered under Sections 13, 16, 17, 18, 18-B and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosives Act, Section 25 of the Arms Act, Sections 21, 25, 27-A and 29 of the NDPS Act and Sections 120, 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Police Station, SSOC, Amritsar, on September 2, 2021.

He said that during preliminary investigations, it came to light that Dhadi was regularly in touch with Lakhbir Singh Rode. The accused was a frequent visitor to Pakistan and on the instructions of Rode, he used to identify and handpick youth using social media platforms to motivate them to be part of terrorist activities, the AIG said.

A UK citizen, Dhadi founded ISYF

• Paramjit Singh Dhadi is a British citizen and founding member of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF)
• He was involved in terror activities in Punjab in the early 90s