CHANDIGARGH: The Punjab police top brass, has ruled out the release of the notorious deputy chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). Davinderpal Singh Bhullar as demanded by the kidnappers of Mr. Rajinder Mirdha while raids on suspected militant hideouts continues unabated.

Senior police officers awaited the arrival of KPS Gill before announcing that “there was no question of releasing Bhullar.

According to reports from Rhotak, a 42 year old tailor, Chander Parkash was picked up in the wee hours of Wednesday, by the Punjab police in connection with the kidnapping case.

Mr. Rajinder Mirdha, the son of Congress MP, and former JPC chairman, Mr. Ram Niwas Mirdha was kidnapped from Jaipur. Mr. Mirdha was a “soft target” chosen by the KLF and has links with the state of Punjab as his wife hails from there. The KLF is seeking Bhullar’s release in exchange for Mirdha.

Davinderpal Singh Bhullar is claimed to be an explosives expert He was picked up from the Delhi airport on Jan. 19. following his deportation from West Germany Punjab police sources disclose that Navneet Singh Kadian alias Nihang Harnek Singh, alias Necka, and Manjinder Singh alias Comrade are suspected to be behind the kidnapping of Mirdha.

The KLF earlier claimed credit for kidnapping the Romanian ambassador, Mr. Radu, from New Delhi. total smuggled goods.

The sources said Indian intelligence agencies had carried out a survey of the border and had come to the conclusion that about 60 BSF posts were 100 few to monitor the movement of militants and smugglers as each post had to carry out surveillance in a 5km stretch Defence experts opine that the additional deployment of the BSF would put an extra burden on the state exchequer and may not ultimately prove as foolproof as fencing

The Governor Gen K.V. Krishna Rao, who had recently visited some of the border areas, including Samba and Akhnoor, was also told about the need for carrying out the fencing and lighting of the border. He is said to have sent a report to the Center favoring it.

The official sources said there was no plan to carry out fencing and lighting on the whole of the LAC because of the difficult terrain which may prevent raising barbed wire barriers. The project was also not financially viable.

The government is worried over the reports suggesting that Pakistani agencies may step up infiltration of militants and arms smuggling into the Jammu region as urban areas in the region are very close to the border. Once the infiltrators sneak into the border villages it takes less than a couple of hours for them to get lost among the crowds in the urban belts. Even carrying of weapons and explosives into Jammu city and its neighboring area is not as difficult as it is in the case of the Kashmir valley.

The sources said till the fencing was carried out, men from the ITBP may be deployed on the border to assist the BSF in checking infiltration and arms smuggling.

Article extracted from this publication >> February 24, 1995