Rinda, Arsh and Landa, according to the charge sheet, have created their own networks of operatives to carry out terrorist activities in India. They have close contacts with drug dealers/Khalistani agents in Pakistan and other countries.
Through this complex network of overseas-based operatives, they have been recruiting, motivating and managing their associates in India to carry out terrorist activities, extortion and cross-border arms and drug smuggling into India. They also have links to the major gangs operating in North India, including local gangsters, syndicates and organized criminal networks.
Six other charges filed Saturday include foreign-based BKI nodes Harjot Singh, r/o Punjab and currently in the US; Kashmir Singh Galwaddi, r/o Punjab and an accused escapee from the Nabha Jailbreak case and suspected of currently being in Nepal; and Tarsem Singh, brother of Lakhbir Singh Sandhu @ Landa, and currently in Dubai. Another defendant in the indictment is Gurjant Singh, r/o Punjab and currently in Australia, who is among the overseas-based KTF nodes.
Deepak Ranga and Lucky Khokhar @ Denis, who were recruited by handlers abroad to carry out terrorist activities in India, have also been charged. Defendant Deepak Ranga was handled by Rinda and Landa for carrying out the RPG attack on Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters, Mohali, Punjab in May 2022.
Investigations into the network of gangsters, terrorists, drug dealers have revealed a complex fundraising mechanism for the BKI and the KTF. Funds were routed to India-based partners through informal channels and formal channels with layering and funding. The MTSS or other means were being used while completely masking the identity of the actual sender or receiver of the funds.
ANI it is also investigating the links of 16 other escaped and arrested defendants associated with the BKI and the KTF.
A former gangster, Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda is now a senior member of BKI and Khalistani operative. In the year of 2018-19, he fled to Pakistan and is currently living there under the patronage of ISI, and is involved in committing terrorist activities against India. Rinda is involved in various crimes such as smuggling of arms, ammunition, explosives and drugs to Indian territory from Pakistan, recruiting BKI agents, assassinations, raising funds for BKI through extortion etc. in the states of Punjab and Maharashtra. He has been involved in many terrorist activities, including the role-playing attack on the Punjab police intelligence headquarters in May 2022, and was declared an “individual terrorist” in 2023 by the central government.
Arshdeep Singh aka Arsh Dala, r/o Moga, Punjab was an infamous gangster in India before moving to Canada. In Canada, Dala contacted Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the KTF chief who was recently assassinated in British Columbia. The duo were involved in recruiting youth and forming terrorist gangs to carry out extortion to raise funds for KTF and to carry out targeted assassinations of businessmen and leaders of particular communities in Punjab. Dala was declared an “individual terrorist” earlier this year.
Lakhbir Singh Sandhu aka Landa, r/o Tarn Taran, Punjab, India was initially involved in criminal and gangster related activities. In 2017 he left for Canada and from there he continued his activities. Meanwhile, he came into contact with the terrorist BKI Rinda and started working for the latter and BKI. He has been the main accused in a series of terrorist incidents, including the RPG attack on the Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in May 2022 and the RPG attack on Sarhali Police Station in Tarn Taran in December 2022. He was also the mastermind of the conspiracy to kill Punjab Police SI Dilbagh Singh in August 2022.