Punjab: Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2020

Date	Incidents	Expand All.. Collapse All...
January - 1	The Counter Intelligence (CI) Wing of Punjab Police arrested a narcotics smuggler and recovered 5.15 Kilogram of heroin, two pistols and ammunition from his possession in Ferozepur District of Punjab on January 1, reports The Tribune. The arrestee ha Read more... The Counter Intelligence (CI) Wing of Punjab Police arrested a narcotics smuggler and recovered 5.15 Kilogram of heroin, two pistols and ammunition from his possession in Ferozepur District of Punjab on January 1, reports The Tribune. The arrestee has been identified as Bhalwan Singh, a resident of Aliwala village in the said District. In a statement, The Additional Inspector General (AIG), CI, Ketan Baliram Patil said the Police recovered two pistols of .30 bore along with 10 live cartridges and two magazines from the accused. Official sources said the drug consignment was smuggled from Rajoke village in Ferozepur sector along International Border (IB) around three days ago. Smugglers on the other side of the border, taking the advantage of dense fog, had thrown the contraband over the fence. Bhalwan worked as a carrier of drugs. He had reportedly taken INR 2, 50,000 for delivering the consignment. “Investigations are underway to identify the person to whom it was meant to be delivered,” said an Official. Read less...
January - 5	Pakistan government's claims on not allowing anti-India elements to operate from its soil were exposed when its pro-Khalistan face, Gopal Singh Chawla, was given free access to mingle with Indian pilgrims at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartapur Sahib co Read more... Pakistan government's claims on not allowing anti-India elements to operate from its soil were exposed when its pro-Khalistan face, Gopal Singh Chawla, was given free access to mingle with Indian pilgrims at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartapur Sahib complex on January 5, reports The Times of India. As per the report, Chawla was allowed to meet the Indian devotees during the celebrations organised by Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. According to sources, Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), which - as per intelligence sources - is under the direct command of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), allowed Chawla to lead the functions, address the gathering and meet Indian pilgrims. "Chawla has close ties with terror mastermind Hafiz Saeed and many other militants for his anti-India ranting, so he is indispensable for ISI that uses him as an anti-India Sikh face of Pakistan, and he has been accordingly awarded with various benefits," a source said. According to sources, Chawla had delivered a hate speech against India during the function. Chawla was also present at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib on January 4, during the visit of Islamic scholars and religious leaders, aimed at restoring the confidence among Pakistani Sikhs following the protest and stoning of the Gurdwara. Read less...
January - 6	The Border Security Force (BSF) said that the amount of heroin seized along the India-Pakistan border has come down considerably in the last couple of years, reports The Tribune on January 7. This year, the BSF had seized 227.5 kilogram heroin, which Read more... The Border Security Force (BSF) said that the amount of heroin seized along the India-Pakistan border has come down considerably in the last couple of years, reports The Tribune on January 7. This year, the BSF had seized 227.5 kilogram heroin, which is the lowest in the last five years. In 2014, the BSF had recovered 361.41 kilogram heroin, besides seizing weapons, ammunition, over 100 Pakistani SIMs and mobiles. This was followed by the recovery of 344.30 kilogram of heroin in 2015, 230.56 kilogram in 2016 and 278.14 kilogram in 2017. The seizures went down in 2018 to 221.30 kilogram and the trend continued this year too. The BSF claimed that this was a result of better border domination and increased technical surveillance by the BSF authorities, along with various counter-smuggling measures launched by other security agencies like the Special Task Force (STF) set up by Punjab Police. Meanwhile, the recovery of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) too has virtually stopped. Notes with face value of INR 5.204 million were seized in 2013, followed by INR 1.1 million each in 2014 and 2015. As per data available with the BSF, the recovery of Pakistani mobiles and SIM cards had also dipped. Moreover, only 17 Pakistani nationals, besides four other nationals were arrested or interdicted this year. From 2013, around 30 Pakistani infiltrators were apprehended or killed annually. BSF officials said in addition to increased surveillance through hi-tech equipment like LORROS, HHTI, thermal and infra-red imagers, the latest ground sensor devices were also being used to penetrate much farther across the fencing. A BSF official asserted that over and above, the deployment of additional battalions along the border had also helped. Additionally, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Ferozepur District of Punjab, Vivek Sheel Soni, attributed the decrease in seizure of heroin to better security measures and enhanced coordination of information amid various security and intelligence agencies. The SSP said, “We are identifying both suppliers and consumers to break the nexus and chain of supply in this region.” Read less...
January - 9	A team of Punjab Police in coordination with the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru Police, arrested a Khalistani militant from Bengaluru District of Karnataka in India on January 9, reports Deccan Herald. The arrested militant has been identifi Read more... A team of Punjab Police in coordination with the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru Police, arrested a Khalistani militant from Bengaluru District of Karnataka in India on January 9, reports Deccan Herald. The arrested militant has been identified as Jarnail Singh Sidu alias Jarnail Singh Sandhu (38), a resident of Mohali District of Punjab and a native of Hyderabad District of Telangana. As per the report, Jarnail Singh was residing in a paying guest (PG) accommodation in a private firm in Manyata Tech Park in Bengaluru city. The Police officials said that Punjab’s State Special Operation Cell had registered a case against Jarnail Singh in March 2019. Upon learning that the Police were on to him, Jarnail Singh escaped from Mohali six months ago and came to Bengaluru. He then took accommodation in a PG accommodation and joined the private firm. He was in contact with Khalistan militants in Punjab. On receiving information about his presence in the city, the Police team arrested him from the said accommodation. According to a senior Official, “Jarnail Singh was one of the militants involved in the Khalistan movement to advocate for a separate Sikh nation and was constantly in touch with the group suspected to have been involved in terrorist attacks in Punjab.” Read less...
January - 9	The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) Tribunal upheld the Centre’s ban on pro-Khalistan group — Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), ensuring that the group is declared as an unlawful association on January 9, reports The Tribune. This comes as a big r Read more... The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) Tribunal upheld the Centre’s ban on pro-Khalistan group — Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), ensuring that the group is declared as an unlawful association on January 9, reports The Tribune. This comes as a big relief for security agencies in Punjab, where the group has been trying to revive a separatist movement in the State. The Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta said the ban on the SFJ was good news for the State, where it had been fishing for young and gullible youth, and radicalising them. The DGP said, “With the SFJ being declared as an unlawful association, people will not fall prey to their objective of radicalising youth and unleashing violence in the state." A notification by the Centre, declaring the SFJ as an unlawful association, was issued yesterday. Earlier, the Centre had announced its decision to declare the group as unlawful on July 10, 2019 and banned it for five years. It had then referred the matter to the UAPA Tribunal. The Tribunal, headed by Delhi High Court Chief Justice D.N. Patel, had examined all evidence produced by the Punjab Government as well as the National Investigation Agency (NIA), regarding the subversive activities of the SFJ. The tribunal held that it was clear from the evidence that activities of the group were “unlawful, disruptive and threaten the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of India”. It further held that the evidence proved that the SFJ was “working in collusion with anti-India entities and forces”. The tribunal took into account all “terror” incidents and unearthing of modules in Punjab since 2017; the SFJ’s social media campaign; besides letters written by the SFJ authorities to various diplomats, seeking support for their campaign. Read less...
January - 10	The State Police in Punjab have busted a narco-terror module that flew drones from Amritsar District to Pakistan to fetch drugs in the last few days and arrested three persons, including an Indian Army soldier and an expert drone operator on January Read more... The State Police in Punjab have busted a narco-terror module that flew drones from Amritsar District to Pakistan to fetch drugs in the last few days and arrested three persons, including an Indian Army soldier and an expert drone operator on January 10, reports The Tribune. The arrested persons have been identified as Dharminder Singh of Dhanoa Khurd village and Balkar Singh of Kalas village in Amritsar District and Rahul Chauhan of Pooja Vihar in Ambala District of Haryana. the Director General of Police (DGP), Dinkar Gupta said, while Dharminder was arrested from Hardo Rattan village, about 3 kilometers from the India-Pakistan border, Balkar, lodged in Amritsar jail in an NDPS case, was arrested on production warrant. Rahul, a soldier in the Indian Army, was reportedly involved in procuring and supplying drones and training to cross-border smugglers. Two members of the narco-terror module were still absconding and efforts were on to nab them. The DGP further said they had seized two highly sophisticated Chinese drones, belonging to the narco-terror module, involved in the smuggling of weapons and narcotics from across the border. “The seizure includes drone batteries, custom-made drone containers, two walkie-talkie sets, Rs 6.22 lakh, believed to be proceeds of drugs, and a magazine of an INSAS rifle. The drones, capable of travelling 2-3 kilometers, were reportedly being launched from the Indian side to fly into Pakistan to pick up narcotics. The accused had apparently already conducted four-five sorties.” Read less...
January - 12	The Punjab Police has constituted five teams to keep an eye on smuggling of drugs and weapons by drones from neighbouring Pakistan, reports The New Indian Express on January 13. As per the report, while one team will solely be dedicated to handle cyb Read more... The Punjab Police has constituted five teams to keep an eye on smuggling of drugs and weapons by drones from neighbouring Pakistan, reports The New Indian Express on January 13. As per the report, while one team will solely be dedicated to handle cybercrime, two teams will keep a tab on the movement of narcotics and smugglers from other States into Punjab. Also, two other dedicated teams would track criminals by their social media activity and all teams will work in tandem to make arrests. The teams have been formed following the seizure of two Chinese-made drones used to fly into Pakistan to pick drugs and fly back to Punjab in India and also including the arrests of five drug smugglers recently. The report further adds that the State Police is working in close coordination with the Border Security Force (BSF) to check drone activity. BSF and Police personnel had recently carried out a search operation in the Ajnala sector on the India-Pakistan border following unidentified drone activity. Read less...
January - 14	The Border Security Force (BSF) launched a massive search operation following the sighting of drones at Tendiwala village near Shameke sector of International Border (IB) in Ferozepur District of Punjab on January 14, reports The Tribune. As per the Read more... The Border Security Force (BSF) launched a massive search operation following the sighting of drones at Tendiwala village near Shameke sector of International Border (IB) in Ferozepur District of Punjab on January 14, reports The Tribune. As per the report, drones were sighted twice around 8.48 pm and later around 11 pm in the said location. The BSF jawans belonging to the 136 Battalion opened fire at the flying objects to bring them down. Later, a joint search operation by the BSF and the Punjab Police was carried out, however, nothing substantial was found. The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of the District, Vivek Sheel Soni said that the Police had received information regarding the sighting of drone-like objects following which the search was conducted to rule out any misadventure from across the border. “We have asked the villagers to report if they found something suspicious,” he said. Further, the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of BSF, Sandeep Chanan said, though some flying objects were seen, it could not be ascertained whether they were drones or something else. He confirmed that the troops fired some rounds towards the objects and the search operation was still on. Read less...
January - 15	The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered four packets of contraband suspected to be heroin weighing 3.080 kilogram from Ferozepur sector in Ferozepur District and Abohar sector in Fazilka District along International Border (IB) of Punjab on January Read more... The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered four packets of contraband suspected to be heroin weighing 3.080 kilogram from Ferozepur sector in Ferozepur District and Abohar sector in Fazilka District along International Border (IB) of Punjab on January 15, reports UNI. According to a spokesperson of the Punjab Frontiers BSF HQ (Head Quarters), the BSF troops heard some suspicious sound in the areas of Ferozepur and Abohar sectors. As soon as the troops noticed movement of some suspects moving towards Indian Territory ahead of border security fence, they challenged the suspected smugglers but when the suspects continued to move towards fence, they opened fire following which the Pakistani smugglers ran towards Pakistani side taking advantage of dense fog and undulated ground. During search of the area, the BSF troops recovered two packets of contraband suspected to be heroin from the border area near Ferozepur sector weighing one kilogram each and two more packets from the area in Abohar sector weighing 2.080 kilogram of heroin. Read less...
January - 15	The State Police of Punjab has banned the use of Remote Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) i.e. drones, in areas adjoining the India-Pakistan border across the State on January 15, reports The Tribune. The radius of 25 Read more... The State Police of Punjab has banned the use of Remote Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) i.e. drones, in areas adjoining the India-Pakistan border across the State on January 15, reports The Tribune. The radius of 25 kilometers near the border has been declared “no drone zone” and notice boards have been installed outside all Police Stations in these areas. The Police have warned that if anyone is caught violating the order, strict legal action will be taken. The police have made it clear that no one is allowed to use drone even for shooting films and if anyone wants to shoot any occasion, prior permission has to be procured. The Station House Officer (SHO) of Gharinda, Amandeep Singh said, “The use of drones in border areas is totally banned. No one is allowed to use drones even for amusement. If wedding photographers want to shoot a ceremony, they have to seek permission. We have increased surveillance in the border villages and appealed to the public to cooperate and inform the police about the sighting of any drone activity.” Read less...
January - 17	The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 22 kilogram of heroin smuggled from Pakistan at the International Border out Post (BOP) at Chontra in Gurdaspur sector in Gurdaspur District of Punjab on January 17, reports The Tribune. As per the report, th Read more... The Border Security Force (BSF) recovered 22 kilogram of heroin smuggled from Pakistan at the International Border out Post (BOP) at Chontra in Gurdaspur sector in Gurdaspur District of Punjab on January 17, reports The Tribune. As per the report, the BSF troops saw some movement near the fencing at Chontra post and opened fire, after which some smugglers ran towards the Pakistani side. After which the BSF conducted a search following which they recovered 22 packets comprising around 22 kilogram of heroin, 90 rounds and two magazines of ammunition, WiFi connectors, two smart phones, a normal phone and a pipe. Read less...
January - 19	The Counter Intelligence wing of the Punjab Police arrested two cross-border drug smugglers and recovered 4 Kilogram of heroin, worth INR 200 million from Ferozepur District of Punjab on January 19, reports The Tribune. The arrested smugglers have be Read more... The Counter Intelligence wing of the Punjab Police arrested two cross-border drug smugglers and recovered 4 Kilogram of heroin, worth INR 200 million from Ferozepur District of Punjab on January 19, reports The Tribune. The arrested smugglers have been identified as Satnam Singh alias Satta of Jhugge Kishor Singhwala village and Gurpreet Singh alias Gora of Khunder Uthar village; both falling under Mamdot block in the District. The Additional Inspector General (AIG, Counter Intelligence) Ajay Maluja, said that the Police had received specific inputs that Satnam and Gurpreet were in touch with Pakistani smugglers and had received a consignment from across the border. Following which a naka (barricade) was put up on the outskirts of the block and arrested them and the contraband was seized. During the interrogation, Satnam revealed that he was in touch with a Pakistani smuggler, named Riaz Chacha. On the intervening night of January 6 and 7, he had received 5 kilogram heroin that was thrown in the fields situated along the fence near border outpost Maste ke village in the District, which belonged to Gurpreet. While the accused sold one packet, they were going to deliver the remaining four packets to some unidentified smugglers in Amritsar District, as per the instructions of their Pakistani handler, the AIG said. Read less...
January - 20	The Punjab Police has arrested two persons in connection with their involvement in the smuggling of narcotics and drugs across the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar District of Punjab on January 20, reports The Tribune. The Police first arrested Rish Read more... The Punjab Police has arrested two persons in connection with their involvement in the smuggling of narcotics and drugs across the India-Pakistan border in Amritsar District of Punjab on January 20, reports The Tribune. The Police first arrested Rishabh Kumar, for allegedly supplying drones to Army man Rahul Chohan, who was arrested earlier on January 10. During his interrogation, the Police arrested another person, identified as Sarvodya Rakesh Behri, a resident of Jammu. As per the Police sources, Behri was running a start-up business of selling drones, but did not have the documents that authorised him to sell the equipment. Read less...
January - 21	Keeping in view the misuse of drones in smuggling narcotics and arms from across the International Border (IB), the Punjab Police have put a ban on flying Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) or Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) i.e. drone within a d Read more... Keeping in view the misuse of drones in smuggling narcotics and arms from across the International Border (IB), the Punjab Police have put a ban on flying Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) or Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) i.e. drone within a distance of 25 Kilometers of the India-Pakistan border, reports The Tribune on January 22. These directions were issued to conform to the directions of the Ministry of Civil Aviation under a policy named ‘Drone Regulations 1.0’ that classify UAS or RPAS or drone, and delineate how these can be flown and set restrictions under which they can be operated. The Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Vikram Jeet Duggal said a special vigil would be undertaken to ensure that the directions regarding drones are followed. Ownership of a drone without a valid permit would invite action under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The SSP further said, as per these rules, a special permit according to the potency of the drone has to be obtained from the Director General of Civil Aviation. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued a public notice providing a “one-time” opportunity for voluntary disclosure for all drones and drone operators till January 31. Read less...
January - 29	The Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has changed its nomenclature from “Sikh Referendum 2020” to “Punjab Referendum 2020”, reports The Tribune on January 30. As per the report, the SFJ circulated posters on social media, extending the programme to all communi Read more... The Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has changed its nomenclature from “Sikh Referendum 2020” to “Punjab Referendum 2020”, reports The Tribune on January 30. As per the report, the SFJ circulated posters on social media, extending the programme to all communities and invited members of other religions, besides Dalits to join the movement. The Punjab Police and Intelligence Officials said that the SFJ had abandoned the ‘Sikh Referendum’ movement and shifted its stance after it got no response from the Sikh community over its separatist agenda. The SFJ had announced the referendum movement in 2018, and even after a publicity drive for over two years, there was no response to the movement, the Officials added. Read less...
January - 30	The National Investigation Agency (NIA) would again take the voice samples of the nine militants of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) for their involvement in the smuggling of arms using drones on the International Border (IB) with Pakistan, reports The Read more... The National Investigation Agency (NIA) would again take the voice samples of the nine militants of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) for their involvement in the smuggling of arms using drones on the International Border (IB) with Pakistan, reports The Tribune on January 31. As per the report, barring Gurdev Singh, all the militants appeared in an NIA court in Mohali District on January 30. Three KZF militants – Balbir Singh alias Binda, Harbhajan Singh and Romandeep Singh were arrested by the NIA on a production warrant. The NIA had also registered cases against Akashdeep Singh, Balwant Singh, Shukhdeep Singh, Mann Singh, Sajanpreet Singh, Gurdev Singh and Malkit Singh. The case was earlier being investigated by the State Special Operation Cell, Amritsar. At that time, four militants including Balbir Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and Balwant Singh, were arrested along with the arms and other material near Chola Sahib on September 22, 2019. Later, the case was handed over to the NIA. Read less...

*Data till , September 25, 2020

Source:Compiled from news reports and are provisional.

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