New Delhi: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic
and recent military face-off on the India-China border in Ladakh, intelligence
agencies have warned the government of pro-Khalistan activities in the country
backed by Pakistan's ISI spy agency and the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ)
group.
The warning, sources said, mentions that these anti-India activities are being guided by one ISI handler named Abdullah in close coordination with SFJ's founder Avtar Singh Pannu— who is learnt to have been residing in the United Kingdom.
Abdullah's name was also revealed during questioning of three arrested suspected sympathisers of the Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF), who were planning to execute targeted killings in various northern states. The KLF supporters were arrested by the Special Cell of Delhi Police in a week-long operation across Delhi, Punjab and Haryana.
The ISI and SFJ have been advocating secessionist and pro-Khalistan activities in India for long following which the Ministry of Home Affairs in July last year banned the SFJ for advocating Referendum 2020, an online campaign for Khalistan, which seeks a separate homeland for Sikhs.
Intelligence agencies have also shared inputs about another person named Gopal Singh Chawla, a close aide of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack mastermind and Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Hafiz Saeed, for his role in pro-Khalistan activities in India.
It has been suggested in the warning, which was shared earlier this month, to keep the national capital on high alert ahead of Independence Day. Inputs were shared that KLF group has been tasked by ISI and SFJ for terrorist activity in the national capital, said the source.
As per the information, KLF group is in close proximity with Pakistani ISI handler Abdullah and Avtar Singh Pannu of SFJ. The KLF group has been tasked to lure youths to the organisation and has been assigned to indoctrinate youths at the behest of their bosses based in Pakistan, the sources said.
For funding, another source said, the ISI handlers asked the KLF to extort money from local businessmen to arrange locally made weapons and give momentum to the terror plan. (IANS)
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