Terrorism: An unholy alliance and its Canada link laid bare in a diplomatic standoff

The recent killings of two Punjab-origin, Canada-settled pro-Khalistan handlers of terrorists and gangsters spread across the world have not only triggered a diplomatic standoff between India and Canada but have once again brought international focus to bear on the extremists’ designs to execute terrorist and secessionist activities in India, mainly Punjab.
Banned militant outfit Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, from Jalandhar district, who was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, promoted the secessionist agenda of US-based pro-Khalistan organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and terror activities in India. The NIA had announced in July last year a Rs 10-lakh award on him for conspiring to kill Hindu priest Kamaldeep Sharma in Jalandhar in January 2021.
Gangster-turned-terrorist Sukhdool Singh, alias Sukha Duneke, born in Moga district, was gunned down in an alleged inter-gang rivalry at Winnipeg, Canada, on September 20. Duneke was close to Moga native and gangster-turned-terrorist Arshdeep Singh, alias Arsh Dala, now based in Canada. Both Dala and Duneke were active in reviving KTF after Nijjar’s murder. Duneke had over 20 cases of murder, extortion and other crimes registered against him in India. His name also figured in the list of 43 criminals released by the NIA earlier this week.

KTF & Nijjar
The Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) was launched on March 13, 2011, by Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Jagtar Singh Tara, one of the life convicts in the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. After Tara’s arrest on January 5, 2015, in Thailand and eventual extradition to India, Nijjar became the KTF chief. Later, Dala, who was once a small-time gangster in Punjab and emigrated to Canada in 2018, became an active member of KTF, which was declared a terrorist organisation by the Indian government on February 17, 2023.
Nijjar and Dala were focused on the recruitment of youth and formation of terrorist gangs to carry out extortions to raise funds for KTF and on targeted killings, mainly of Hindu leaders, and also of businessmen in Punjab and other states. Dala was declared an individual terrorist by India on January 9, 2023; he has 46 criminal cases registered against him in Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand. He is also an accused in three cases registered by the NIA.

Other members associated with KTF include Philippines-based Manpreet Singh, alias Peeta, and Vikramjit Singh, alias Vickey, and Australia-based Gurjant Singh. Also, the gang of Davinder Bambiha, who was killed by Punjab police in an encounter in 2016, is linked to KTF. This gang is now headed by Armenia-based Gaurav Patial, alias Lucky Patial, who is from Chandigarh.
BKI & Pakistan link
Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) was founded in the early 1980s, after clashes between Nirankaris and Akhand Kirtanis on April 13, 1978 in Amritsar that had left 13 people dead, including the then chief of the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, Fauja Singh. BKI, designated an international terrorist organisation by India, the US, UK, Canada, the European Union and Japan, aims to create an independent Khalistan through violent means.
Pakistan-based Wadhawa Singh, alias Chacha, alias Babbar, is the current chief of BKI. He is assisted by Pakistan-based designated terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu, alias Rinda, as the main conspirator and recruiter for BKI. His other associates include Canada-based Lakhbir Singh Sandhu, alias Landa, US-based Harjot Singh, Nepal-based Kashmir Singh Galwadi, alias Balbir Singh, Deepak Kumar, alias Deepak Ranga, and UAE-based Tarsem Singh. Rinda started as a gangster with bases in Nanded, Maharashtra, and Tarn Taran in Punjab.

Ranga and an associate had carried out the rocket-propelled grenade attack on the Punjab Police intelligence headquarters in Mohali on May 9, 2022 on the directions of Rinda and Landa. Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, lodged in Bathinda jail, is aligned to BKI and runs his gang’s operations through Canada-based Goldy Brar in North Indian states.
Modus operandi & Hawala network
During an investigation by Punjab Police and the NIA, it emerged that Rinda and his BKI associates were involved in cross-border smuggling of arms and ammunition and explosives and narcotics, mainly from Pakistan. These consignments were smuggled from one place to another, mostly through a cut-out mechanism where one person in the chain does not have any contact with the other.
The investigation also revealed the complex network of transferring terror funds extorted from India for terrorist activities. The funds are transferred to foreign countries through time-tested hawala channels, or via formal money transfer service schemes and banking channels. It also emerged that the KTF module was using MTSS services, like Western Union, RIA Money and Transfast, to transfer funds to India-based associates.
These terrorists and gangsters identify and threaten businessmen and singers in India to extort money and order killings if their demands are ignored. They use secure means of communication, like Signal, WhatsApp, Zangi, Facebook Messenger and Wire, to evade interception by law-enforcement agencies. WhatsApp is the most frequently used platform to make threat calls to potential victims.

Parallels to Mumbai underworld
Investigating agencies have found that over a period of time individual gangs felt the need to expand their area of influence and joined hands to share resources to increase criminal activity over a wider area. To procure sophisticated weapons, syndicate members forged a symbiotic relationship with proscribed terrorist organisations and persons working for the cause of Khalistan.
In return for weapons, the criminal syndicate carried out extortions and targeted killings for foreign-based proscribed organisations to further the Khalistan cause.
This has a parallel with Mumbai’s underworld, which, initially, would carry out criminal activity such as murder, shooting important personalities and businessmen, abductions and land-grabbing. Later, the Mumbai underworld joined anti-India organisations in Pakistan to carry out terrorist attacks in Mumbai.
Investigations have revealed that the main associates of the Punjab-based Bambiha Gang had come in contact with friendly gangs operating in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan by 2021. Now, Bambiha gang members work in close association with KTF.
To procure sophisticated weapons, syndicate members forged a symbiotic relationship with proscribed terror outfits and persons working for the cause of Khalistan. In return for weapons, it carried out extortions and targeted killings for foreign-based proscribed organisations. This has a parallel with Mumbai’s underworld, which, initially, would carry out criminal activity and later joined anti-India organisations in Pakistan to carry out terrorist attacks in Mumbai.