Police foil Khalsa terror plot

Delhi Police on Friday claimed to have foiled the plans of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) to assassinate some religious and political leaders with the arrest of two suspected terrorists. Babbar Khalsa, also known as Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), is a Sikh armed organisation based in India.The insurgent outfit was active throughout 1980s in the Punjab insurgency but its influence declined in the 1990s after several senior members were killed in encounter killings with police.The outfit has since been declared to be a terrorist organisation in many countries, including India, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.The module was tasked by BKI chief Wadhawa Singh and an operative Kulbir Singh to assassinate three religious leaders in north Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and some political leaders in Punjab during the upcoming assembly elections, police claimed.The arrested duo — Sarabpreet Singh alias Prince (30) and his childhood friend Jaswinder Singh (30) — were allegedly waiting for a consignment of assault rifles and rocket launchers to carry out the strikes, they said.Ashok Chand, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), said Sarabpreet was the first to be arrested from northwest Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh on Friday evening. His arrest led to Jaswinder who was picked up from Anantpur Saheb in Punjab.“We had information from Punjab Police and other agencies that some BKI operatives were trying to assassinate religious and political leaders. Yesterday (Friday) we got an input that somebody will come in a Ford Icon car to Singhalpura market in Shalimar Bagh. Sarabpreet was arrested from there,” Chand said.Three pistols and 45 cartridges were recovered from their possession. Sarabpreet’s interrogation revealed that he was tasked with killing some religious and political leaders, he claimed.“He was tasked to eliminate Baba Ram Rahim of Ambala (Haryana), Baba Pyara Singh of Banihara (Punjab) and Baba Ashutosh of Ludhiana (Punjab) apart from from political leaders of Punjab,” Chand said. SJY Chand claimed that Sarabjeet, a school dropout, had met BKI operative Kulbir Singh in Hong Kong in 2001 for the first time when he was 20-years-old. He met Kulbir again last year during which he was allegedly inducted into BKI. Sarabjeet allegedly got involved in crimes in 2003 and was arrested along with others in a murder case. He was acquitted in the case later.In 2009, he allegedly started drug peddling and was wanted in a case in Patiala. Since then he was absconding.He shifted his base to Ranchi and renewed his passport from the Jharkhand capital. “Kulbir Singh promised him financial support and that BKI would arrange explosives, assault rifles, pistols and rocket launchers. He also promised to provide two trainers to impart training in assembling and handling of weapon to youths recruited by Sarabpreet in India,” Chand said.Chand said Sarabpreet, after coming back from Hong Kong, set up his base in Delhi as he was wanted by Punjab Police in the drug peddling case.“He was in touch with Wadhawa Singh and Kulbir Singh. On their instructions, he collected two consignments of weapons, explosives and fake currency. He was waiting for another consignment of assault rifles and rocket launchers for targeting religious and political leaders as they were under heavy security,” he said.