Amritsar, India.- Santokh Singh, a bomber, robber and confessed killer of at least 50 people, relaxed at the police station, cradling his submachine gun and shaking hands with various officers.

“They give me shelter to take revenge,” explains Singh, 29. “If we can “gun down about 200 main killers, we will be able to flush out terrorism in the region.

Singh was confirming what up to now has been only rumored – that officials in India’s Punjab State have recruited former Sikh extremists to fight those still waging a bloody campaign for an independent Sikh nation. of “Khalistan”.

Singh, who said he decided to cooperate with the police after his brother was tortured and murdered by extremists, admitted playing a role in the killings of at least 25 militants to date.

Other vigilantes, who asked not be identified, said they turned on their former compatriots when they became disillusioned about the fight for “Klialistan”.

“This is a war-type situation,” said a senior police official. “In war, 1 feel sometimes you have to take some decisions which otherwise are morally and ethically incorrect.”

The new tactic, he added, was undertaken with the knowledge of Prime Minister Rajiv, Gandhi’s government, which assumed control of Punjab last May, but remains totally frustrated in crushing the extremists by conventional means.

Militants still openly operate from the Golden Temple of Amritsar. Police cannot enter Sikhdom’s holiest shrine without reviving memories of the June 1984 assault that left more than 600 Sikhs dead, and led to the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

By using 50 former militants comprisirig the “Panthic Tiger Force” and the “Khalsa Commando Force,” authorities hope to shatter the estimated 300 “hardcore” radicles, blamed for more than 1,500 murders in the past 14 months.

Most Panthic Tiger Force members are veteran cop killers, yet they are warmly accepted by security personnel when they wander through police stations brandishing weapons.

They possess certificates granting them the same powers as paramilitary troopers. They are even allowed to steal cars if they return the vehicles within 10 days.

“The police supply us with money, amunition and vehicles,” said Singh, who barely laments killing more than 50 militants in assorted attacks and boasts that he masterminded a bombing campaign in New Delhi while on the oilier side of the law.

“When we break the law, we tell a higher authority so police do not register the case”, he chuckled. “It is a mutual understanding”.

Officially, authorities deny vigilantes exist, but endorse the idea of fighting terrorism with terror.

“If you decide as a civilian to fight against an extremist, I think it is proper for us to help you”. Amritsar District Police Chief Mohammad lzhar Alam said, while five vigilantes waited outside his heavily guarded office for an appointment.

“We are trying to find a group of people who are willing to fight the extremists”.

One police official said the vigilantes were “the brainwork of a group of local officials,” and began shortly after Gandhi dismissed Punjab’s moderate Sikh government in May for failing to tackle the extremists.

The anti-militants’ zeal to eradicate their former comrades may be sparked more by personal vendetta than a desire for bettering society. But most observers agree their use has blunted the extremists’ ability to strike.

“The government is successful in this case,” said a senior member of a pro-Khalistan student group. “They have created many hurdles for the militants.”

The vigilantes have their own informers within the Golden Temple. They identify many separatists by stationing themselves at roadblocks in vehicles with dark-tinted windows.

As a result, police say, the extremists have generally abandoned daytime actions and operate more at night.

Singh claimed to have assisted in “eliminating” some 25 prominent extremists, mostly through identifying former 7olleagues who died “trying to escape after interrogation.”

The extremists have long claimed the police regularly ,executed suspected militants in “fake encounters”. Authorities jeny the charge.

Inside the Golden Temple, where militants around a central holy pool carry submachine guns barely concealed ,beneath cloaks, separatist leaders denied any concern.

“The Panthic Tiger Force is negligible”, said Bhai lasbir Singh, spokesman for a five-member group that organizes extremist activities. “They are roaming in streets, but they will not deflect us from our goal. They can do what they like. We will do whatever we like”.

Bhai Nirwair Singh, an acting high priest appointed by the militant committee, said vigilantes were all police informers during their time with the militants, and did not reflect any disillusionment among the separatists.

“Santokh Singh will get the same fate as a traitor”, said the priest, miming the action of firing a rifle. “He can walk into this room, but his dead body will leave.”

– New Harnpshre Sunday News

March 13, 1988