WSN Service
AMRITSAR: Rajwinder Singh, nicknamed “junior Penta”, who claims he masterminded the abduction of Romanian diplomat liviu Radu from Delhi, explains that his motive is to teach the government of India a lesson for “harassing my family members in connection with the assassination of General Vaidya.”
Rajvinder, 17, is a bugbear for India police and is wanted in 68 killings and carries a reward of R.s 5 lakh on his head. He is the brother of Surjit Singh Penta who consumed cyanide before being captured in the course of operation “black thunder” in 1987. Rajivinder at present is a Bit general in Bhai Gurjant Singh Budsinghwala’s Khalistan Liberation Force.
Rajvinder joined the militant’s movement at the age of 13 in the wake of 1984 anti-Sikh riots and due to constant harassment of his family members by the Indian police.
“My first operation was to ambush a pole patrol vehicle at Pattan Kairon village in 1989 in which eight policemen were killed”, he recently told the Delhi based Sunday Mail. He can handle all the sophisticated weapons including the AK-47 rifle. He got the arms training locally and not in Pakistan although, he said, he might go there to take advanced training”. His outfit has 350 members spread all over Punjab. About 250 of his associated had been killed while 150 others had been arrested by India.
“Whatever our high command orders, we obey”, he told the newspaper a one of his hideouts. As for his future plans, there is a lot on the agenda, including forging links with JKLF and ULFA. Asked what would be his group’s stand if the Indian army moved into Punjab soon, Rajvinder Singh said “we are just waiting for the Indian army to enter!”
Explaining extortions, Rajvinder Singh said that his group’s first target was “black marketers™ who paid up to 10-12 lakh rupees. Rich businessmen paid about R.s 2 to 4 lakh on their own. He said every penny was accounted for and proper records were maintained.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 25, 1991
