- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Withe the hunt for fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh continuing, intelligence agencies in India claimed to have found a new Pakistani link to the latter, NDTV reported citing sources.
The news outlet cited sources as saying that Daljit Kalsi, Singh’s financier, is close to the son of former Pakistan Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa who retired last year.
They said that Kalsi was associated with the Dubai-based firm of Saad Bajwa, son of the former army chief. He is also believed to have gone to Dubai for a few months, it was learnt.
Kalsi’s stay in the city in the UAE was allegedly arranged by Khalistani terrorist Landa Harike.
The sources also said that there is proof that Singh’s aide was in contact with Pakistan’s intelligence agency — Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
Kalsi also allegedly has links with gangster Neeraj Bawania, who is in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, the report ad.
He reportedly set up an office in Delhi recently and worked as an agent for modelling or movie contracts in the northern state of Punjab.
He is Amritpal’s closest friend and confidant, the sources added.
Singh, 30, has been moving around in different vehicles to evade the police and security forces who launched a manhunt for him and members of his ‘Waris Punjab De’ since March 18.
Intelligence officials believe Singh is involved in a wide range of “illegal activities”, including sourcing weapons from Pakistan through the ISI for alleged attempts to create communal divisions in Punjab.
Singh claims to be a follower of slain Khalistani separatist and terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, and his supporters call him “Bhindranwale 2.0.”
India’s northern neighbour Nepal has put the Sikh leader on its surveillance list after India requested it to arrest him if he tried to flee to a third country using an Indian passport or any other fake passport. There are also reports suggesting that he has taken shelter in the Himalayan nation.
