The Punjab police have arrested Paramjit Singh alias Punjab Singh alias Dhadi, a close aide of Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode, it said on December 5.
Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said the State Special Operation Cell (Amritsar) has busted a terrorist recruitment, funding, and aiding module with the arrest, carried out at the Sri Guru Ram Das Airport in Amritsar.
Mr. Paramjit Singh, better known as Dhadi, is a British citizen and a founder member of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF). He was initially involved in terror activities in Punjab in the early 1990s, and was later arrested in 2003 and convicted in cases pertaining to terrorist activities. After completing his sentence, the accused returned to the U.K. but continued his ISYF activities by working as a motivator, recruiter, and fundraiser for the organisation in the U.K. and other European countries.
Terror funding allegations
In 2021, Dhadi was identified as one of those involved in reorganising ISYF’s cadre in Punjab by arranging and providing funds and militant hardware to target specific persons, in order to disrupt peace and harmony in the state, Mr. Yadav said. “Following Dhadi’s involvement in terror funding and other subversive activities in Punjab, a look-out notice was issued to ensure his arrest,” he said.
Dhadi was detained by immigration authorities at Sri Guru Ram Das Airport in Amritsar on Monday, while he was going to board a plane to the U.K. on a British passport under the name of Punjab Singh. Subsequently, he was arrested in a 2021 case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Rode, who was among India’s most wanted men and the nephew of the late Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, is believed to have died in Pakistan on Monday.
