NEW DELHI: Security Agencies, including CBI and IB, have indicated that a “renewed spurt of violent activities” is likely in metropolitan cities like Delhi and Bombay by Punjab and Kashmir militant groups. At a meeting of the Union Home Ministry recently, the security agencies disclosed that the Punjab outfits based in Pakistan have been active to revive “militancy in Punjab.”
At the same time, the Harkat-ul- Ansar has planned a new strategy including elimination of politicians and bureaucrats, to thwart any political process, in Jammu and Kashmir, the security agencies reportedly told the Home Ministry.
Significantly, these outfits are working “hand in glove” in their bid to create a “second front” in Punjab and metropolitan cities by reviving militancy and diverting the attention of the security forces deployed in the disturbed valley of Jammu and Kashmir, where the Union Government was all set to hold Assembly elections, well-placed sources said.
The interrogation of Punjab militants Gurvinder Singh Kala and Navtej Singh, who are in the police custody had revealed that the outfits had recently held three meetings in Pakistan to plan revival of militancy in Punjab and metropolitan cities, the sources said.
The Khalistani militants, who at tended the meeting in Pakistan, were from the Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF), Khalistan Commando Force (Panjwar), Khalistan Commando Force (Shattrans), International Sikh Youth Federation (Rode) and Babbar Khalsa. It was pointed out at the Home Min- istry meeting that 50 Khalistani militants, who were trained in the use of several types of fire arms and explosives for two-and-a-half-months, are now in Pakistan. They will try to infiltrate through the Rajasthan and Punjab borders, the intelligence re- ports said.
This time, the aim of the militants will be to adopt “new and devilish methods,” including infiltration in Indian police and paramilitary organizations and tap sensitive Muslim pockets for recruitment.
The Panjwar and Shattrana groups of the KCF may target places of public utility services and international airport. While the Harkat-ul-Ansar, which is frustrated over its failure in getting its leaders released from the jail, will possibly target Rashtrapati Bhawan and Parliament House, the sources said.
The rank-and-file of the Harkat-ul- Ansar may use false identities to gain access to targeted areas, the sources said.
At the Home Ministry meeting, the security agencies also said that Punjab militant Balwant Singh, a main suspect in the Beant Singh assassination with a reward of Rs three lakh for information leading to his capture, was most probably hiding in Delhi. Balwant Singh is one of the four Sikhs, who had volunteered to act as a “suicide bomber” to reach out their targets. The local police has been directed to check throughout Babbar Khalsa hideouts in Delhi and neigh- boring Ghaziabad. The CBI feels that there are 90% chances that Dilawar Singh had acted as the “suicide bomber.”
Article extracted from this publication >> September 1, 1995
