20 yrs on, ex-militant rises from the dead
3 Oct 2012 4:00 AM IST
A 45-year-old militant of Khalistan Commando Force, who had been dead in police records for the last 20 years, was after all alive. Delhi police finally managed to nab him from Jaisalmer in Rajasthan last Wednesday.
Police also apprehended three of his associates, including a drug lord of Punjab, who on 25 September had fled from police custody in Ludhiana while being brought from a session’s court at Hoshiarpur to Tihar Jail in Delhi.
‘The militant, Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukhi, was declared dead in 1992. He was arrested from Ramgarh-Longewal Road, which leads to the Indo-Pakistan border in Jaisalmer,’ said S N Srivastava, Special Commissioner of Police [special cell].
The drug lord, Ranjit Singh Kandola, who was involved in several cases of drug trafficking and cheating in Delhi, Punjab and Zimbabwe, was also arrested along with two other associates, Gaganpreet Singh and Pradeep Kumar, from a guest house at Mahipalpur in south Delhi on Sunday.
On 1 June, Punjab police had unearthed a drug manufacturing unit at Kartarpur in Jalandhar and seized about 50 kg of ephedrine and methametaphine [meth/ice]. The kingpin of this cartel, Kandola, however managed to escape.
He was then arrested on 11 August but he managed to give police a slip in Ludhiana, while being brought from a session’s court at Hoshiarpur to Tihar Jail.
Delhi police then started looking for him and within 24 hours, arrested Sukhi. Four days later, Kandola was also nabbed.
Singh told police that in 1986, he came in contact with Ajeet Pal Singh of Sikh Student Federation, after which he quit studies and joined the banned militant outfit, International Sikh Youth Federation. Meanwhile, Ajeet Pal was killed in a police encounter in Jalandhar.
After that, Singh got in touch with Paramjit Singh Panjwar, chief of Khalistan Commando Force and joined the outfit. He was involved in several cases in Punjab and was arrested in 1987 for anti-national activities. He was released in 1990. In 1992, Singh managed to get himself declared dead in an encounter in Punjab.
After that, Singh went underground till August 1995 and later shifted to Punjab and assumed the fake identity of Harjit Singh Khalon, a resident of Jalandhar. He also managed to get a passport in 1998.
Then started a small transport business and learnt the use of computers. In 2000, he opened Sailors Tour and Travels Pvt Ltd company and started organising package tours to Austria. In 2007, a case was registered against him for the passport made on fake identity. Again he went underground. In 2011, Singh met Kandola through a common friend and joined the drug cartel.
Police also apprehended three of his associates, including a drug lord of Punjab, who on 25 September had fled from police custody in Ludhiana while being brought from a session’s court at Hoshiarpur to Tihar Jail in Delhi.
‘The militant, Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukhi, was declared dead in 1992. He was arrested from Ramgarh-Longewal Road, which leads to the Indo-Pakistan border in Jaisalmer,’ said S N Srivastava, Special Commissioner of Police [special cell].
The drug lord, Ranjit Singh Kandola, who was involved in several cases of drug trafficking and cheating in Delhi, Punjab and Zimbabwe, was also arrested along with two other associates, Gaganpreet Singh and Pradeep Kumar, from a guest house at Mahipalpur in south Delhi on Sunday.
On 1 June, Punjab police had unearthed a drug manufacturing unit at Kartarpur in Jalandhar and seized about 50 kg of ephedrine and methametaphine [meth/ice]. The kingpin of this cartel, Kandola, however managed to escape.
He was then arrested on 11 August but he managed to give police a slip in Ludhiana, while being brought from a session’s court at Hoshiarpur to Tihar Jail.
Delhi police then started looking for him and within 24 hours, arrested Sukhi. Four days later, Kandola was also nabbed.
Singh told police that in 1986, he came in contact with Ajeet Pal Singh of Sikh Student Federation, after which he quit studies and joined the banned militant outfit, International Sikh Youth Federation. Meanwhile, Ajeet Pal was killed in a police encounter in Jalandhar.
After that, Singh got in touch with Paramjit Singh Panjwar, chief of Khalistan Commando Force and joined the outfit. He was involved in several cases in Punjab and was arrested in 1987 for anti-national activities. He was released in 1990. In 1992, Singh managed to get himself declared dead in an encounter in Punjab.
After that, Singh went underground till August 1995 and later shifted to Punjab and assumed the fake identity of Harjit Singh Khalon, a resident of Jalandhar. He also managed to get a passport in 1998.
Then started a small transport business and learnt the use of computers. In 2000, he opened Sailors Tour and Travels Pvt Ltd company and started organising package tours to Austria. In 2007, a case was registered against him for the passport made on fake identity. Again he went underground. In 2011, Singh met Kandola through a common friend and joined the drug cartel.
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