The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh each for information leading to the arrest of designated terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda and Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa. He is allegedly linked to the banned outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), accused of promoting terror activities in India.
Intensifying its crackdown on pro-Khalistan terrorists, the NIA on Wednesday also announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh on BKI’s three associates named Parminder Singh Kaira from Ferozpur, Satnam Singh and Yadvinder Singh from Tarn Taran in Punjab.
According to the NIA, and four others are wanted in a case registered early this year related to the BKI’s terrorist activities aimed at disturbing India’s peace and communal harmony and spreading terror in Punjab.
They are accused of commissioning terror acts and activities, besides raising funds for the BKI, through smuggling of terrorist hardware and narcotics into Punjab and also through extensive extortion from businessmen and other prominent individuals.
The move came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged Indian involvement in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
Who is Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa?
• Originally from Tarn Taran, former “gangster” Rinda is a Pakistan-based BKI terrorist. He earlier lived in Maharashtra’s Nanded and fled to Pakistan illegally in 2018-19.
• Some media reports in November last year claimed that Rinda had died in a Lahore military hospital due to suspected drug overdose. The agencies, however, later found that he was alive.
• Some reports stated that he is now believed to be residing in Edmonton in Alberta in Canada.
• According to a report in The Hindu, the NIA has alleged his role in smuggling of arms, ammunition, explosives, and drugs into the Indian territory from Pakistan, recruiting operatives for the BKI, masterminding murders, and raising funds for the outfit through extortion.
• The report further stated that Rinda has allegedly been involved in several terrorist activities, including a Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) attack on the Punjab police intelligence headquarters (Mohali) in May 2022. He was declared an “individual terrorist” through a Ministry of Home Affairs’ notification in February this year.