A member of the banned terrorist group and an associate of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was killed by the Army in ‘Operation Bluestar’ in 1984, was nabbed by the Delhi Police, officials said on Wednesday.
The accused Gursewak Singh (53) is a member of Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) and was planning to reconstitute his organisation on directions of KCF chief Paramjeet Singh Panjwad, who was based in Pakistan, the police said.
Singh was also in touch with Jagtaar Singh Hawara and other terrorists lodged in various jails in India, including Tihar jail, the police said, adding Gursewak was arrested by the crime branch from ISBT Delhi on March 12 where he had come to meet one of his contacts.
Gursewak was previously involved in more than 50 cases of terrorist activities, murders of police officials and informers, robberies in banks and police station among others, said Ajit Kumar Singla, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime).
He remained in jail for more than 26 years in different cases and was in regular touch with some Pakistan-based terrorists.
The police said Singh was born in a farmer family residing in Raikot village in Punjab’s Ludhiana district. His elder brother Swaran Singh was a member of terrorist group led by Bhinderwale in Punjab in the 1980s. Gursewak joined the group in 1982, the police official said.
In 1984, when Bindranwale was killed, most of his associates fled to Pakistan where they were trained and supported by the ISI.
During that time, Gursewak joined the newly formed KCF constituted by terrorist Manveer Singh Chehdu and actively participated in anti-national activities, he said.
Gursewak along with his associates remained involved in dozens of murders of suspected informers of security agencies and bank robberies in Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan.
In May 1984, the accused along with his associates Labh Singh, Gurinder Singh and Swaranjit Singh, had also killed group editor of Hind Samachar newspaper Ramesh Chander in Jallandhar, Singla said.
In 1986, Singh along with his associates attacked the residence of Julio Riberio, former DGP of Punjab in Jallandhar.
In the same year, the accused along with his associates killed eight police personnel of the Punjab Police while freeing the KCF chief Jarnal Labh Singh and terrorists Gurinder Pal Singh Bhola and Swaranjit Singh from police custody in court complex in Jallandhar after a shootout, the officer said.
The accused persons had also attacked on a police station in Punjab and robbed 16 rifles, six carbines, cartridges, two revolvers, police jeep and a Fiat car.
The accused along with his associates had also killed all nine members of a family in Punjab, he said.
Singh remained in jail and most of the time in the High-Risk Ward of Tihar Jail till 2004 for period of about 18 years.
While in Tihar Jail, he planned to smuggle arms, including AK-47, and explosives from Pakistan in order to carry out an attack in Delhi.
However, this conspiracy of the accused persons was foiled by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police, which arrested two terrorists from Punjabi Bagh area on July 9, 1998, the officer said.
After coming out of jail in 2010, he remained involved in several cases of robbery and was arrested thrice by the Ludhiana Police in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.
During this period, he remained in contact with Paramjeet Singh Panjwad.
He was again arrested by the Delhi Police in 2017 under the Arms Act. He is facing trial in a case in Patiala House Court and was not attending the court, following which the court had issued non-bailable warrants against him, the police said.