India: Chronic Anxieties In Punjab – Analysis
On May 21, 2025, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Bhagwant Singh aka Manna Bhatti from Akalgarh village in Amritsar district, Punjab, for his alleged involvement in the March 15, 2025, grenade attack on a temple in Amritsar, carried out by operatives affiliated with the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). According to the NIA, Bhagwant Singh played a key logistical role, concealing the grenade used in the attack and facilitating the operation through the receipt of terror-linked funds in his bank account.
On May 19, 2025, the Punjab Police dismantled a terrorist module affiliated with the banned Khalistani Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), after an encounter in Batala, Gurdaspur district. Six operatives were arrested, and a .30 bore pistol was recovered from their possession. The module, reportedly backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was planning a grenade attack on a liquor vend. According to officials, the group was receiving direct instructions from foreign-based handlers – Maninder Billa, operating from Portugal, and Mannu Agwan, who recently assumed operational command of BKI following the arrest of Harpreet Singh aka Happy Passia in the United States (US) – under the overall direction of BKI mastermind Harwinder Singh Rinda, based in Pakistan.
On May 12, 2025, the Crime Branch of the Union Territory (UT) Police arrested a key BKI operative, Harwant Singh aka Harry and seized one pistol and three cartridges, from the Daria village area of Chandigarh. According to police officials, Harwant was linked to the gangster-terrorist nexus involving Happy Passia, Manu Agwan, and Pakistan-based Harwinder Singh Rinda. He was reportedly acting as a logistics conduit and had recruited two gangsters who were arrested on May 8 with an improvised explosive device (IED).
On April 30, 2025, Punjab Police thwarted a planned grenade attack on a police establishment, arresting five members of a Pakistan ISI-backed BKI terrorist module, including a juvenile, in Amritsar district. Authorities seized a hand grenade, a country-made .32 pistol, and five live cartridges from their possession. Preliminary investigations linked the accused to foreign-based gangster Jiwan Fauji and indicated their involvement in retrieving weapon consignments from the Ajnala sector.
Significantly, Punjab has recorded a series of 16 low-intensity grenade attacks over a span of seven months, since September 2024, primarily targeting security establishments and prominent locations. 11 of these incidents targeted police stations and posts, including a cluster of back-to-back attacks within a 28-day period between November 23 and December 20, 2024 . Investigations point to a deepening nexus between Khalistani extremism and organised crime, suggesting externally sponsored and sustained attempts to exploit the state’s fragile political environment and provoke instability.
As one of the targets was a temple, the police suspect that this series of grenade attacks may also be a deliberate attempt to incite communal unrest in Punjab. While the majority of incidents were directed at police establishments, emerging evidence indicates the involvement of Pakistan-based actors in orchestrating both categories of attacks – those aimed at state institutions and those potentially designed to provoke communal tensions.
Though this chain of incidents caused considerable embarrassment to the Punjab Police, the force has successfully solved nearly all the cases – with the exception of the April 2, 2025 grenade attack on the Badshahpur Police Post in Patiala. The police have managed to arrest the perpetrators and trace the operational modules to handlers based abroad. So far, Punjab Police has dismantled eight terrorist modules linked to these incidents: four associated with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), three with the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), and one operated by overseas-based handlers, all reportedly backed by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). 20 persons – including one juvenile – have been arrested in connection with these investigations, and a significant cache of arms, grenades, and explosives has been recovered.
In a major development, on April 17, 2025, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arrested absconding Khalistani terrorist and gangster Happy Passia in Sacramento, California. Wanted by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) for multiple grenade attacks in Punjab, Passia is suspected of collaborating with Pakistan’s ISI and BKI. Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav described the arrest as a key breakthrough in the crackdown on ISI-linked networks. India has initiated formal extradition proceedings. Passia had entered the US illegally.
Security forces have also neutralised five accused individuals linked to this series of grenade attacks. On March 17, 2025, Gursidak Singh aka Sidki – one of the suspects involved in the March 15 grenade attack on a temple in Amritsar – was killed in an exchange of fire with the police on Airport Road in Amritsar, Punjab. During the encounter, a police officer sustained injuries, while Gursidak’s accomplice, Vishal aka Chui, managed to flee the scene.
On February 27, 2025, Mohit, a key BKI operative and a prime suspect in the grenade attacks in Amritsar’s Jaintipur and Batala’s Raimal, was killed in an encounter with the police at Batala in Gurdaspur district.
Earlier, On December 23, 2024, a joint operation by the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Special Task Force (STF) and Punjab Police resulted in the neutralisation of three operatives of the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) in Pilibhit district, UP. The deceased individuals were identified as Gurwinder Singh, Virendra Singh aka Ravi, and Jasan Preet Singh aka Pratap Singh, all of whom were reportedly involved in the grenade attacks targeting police establishments in Punjab. Security forces recovered two AK-47 rifles, two Glock pistols, and a substantial cache of ammunition from the encounter site.
According to police investigations, the suspects were operating as part of an extensive terrorist network and maintained contact with Ranjeet Singh Neeta, the Pakistan-based leader of the KZF. Their logistical arrangements in Pilibhit were reportedly facilitated by the BKI through local sympathisers, and the trio had been acting under the instructions of foreign-based handlers.
Beyond the recent spate of grenade attacks, Punjab recorded nine fatalities linked to the overlapping Khalistani-gangster nexus in 2024 – the highest annual toll since the resurgence of ‘targeted killings’ in 2016. This marks a disturbing escalation following an eight-year lull (2008-2015), during which no such fatalities were reported in the state.
On October 23, 2024, a former sarpanch (head of the panchayat, village level local self-Government institution) and commission agent, Gurdeep Singha, was shot dead by four unidentified assailants at the grain market at Sathiala village in Baba Bakala, Amritsar district. Preliminary investigations suggest the involvement of gangsters.
On October 9, 2024, Gurpreet Singh aka Bhodi was shot dead by four unidentified assailants at Hari Nau village, Faridkot district. Gurpreet was a close associate of Sukhraj Singh Niamiwala, a prominent figure leading protests demanding justice for the 2015 Behbal Kalan Police firing incident. Subsequently, on November 9, 2024 Punjab Police arrested two key shooters affiliated with the Arsh Dala gang in connection with the murder, pointing to the growing entanglement of gangster networks in politically sensitive cases in the state.
On October 7, 2024, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Rajwinder Singh was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Thakkarpura village, Tarn Taran district. The incident occurred when three motorcycle-borne attackers opened fire on Singh’s vehicle as he was celebrating his party’s electoral victory with colleagues. Subsequently, gangsters Doni Bal and Prabh Dasuwala – associates of the notorious gangster Gopi Ghanshyampuria – claimed responsibility for the killing through a Facebook post.
On April 13, 2024, Vikas Prabhakar aka Vikas Bagga, the President of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Nangal town, Rupnagar district, Punjab, was shot dead by two unidentified assailants at his confectionery shop. Subsequent investigations and arrests revealed transnational linkages, exposing connections to terrorist/gangster entities based in Pakistan and Portugal.
On April 8, 2024, Sandeep Singh aka Shera, a youth from Dera Baba Nanak town in Gurdaspur district, Punjab, was found murdered with sharp-edged weapons. Shera had multiple criminal cases registered against him. Following the incident, gangster Happy Passia claimed responsibility in a Facebook post, alleging that Shera was a police informant and had been cooperating with the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
On April 4, 2024, Rattandeep Singh, a former Khalistani militant affiliated with the Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan (BTFK), was shot dead by two unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants at Balachaur, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district, Punjab. Rattandeep had a history of involvement in terrorist activities, including a bomb blast in Chandigarh in 1999, and was arrested in 2014 after years of evading law enforcement. He was released in 2019. Shortly after the killing, gangster Gopi Nawanshahria – reportedly based in California, US – claimed responsibility on Facebook, alleging that Rattandeep was acting as a police informant and had defrauded local youths.
On March 4, 2024, Rajesh Dogra aka Mohan Chir, a gangster based in Jammu, was shot dead by four unidentified assailants outside a shopping mall in Sector 67, Mohali, in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar district, Punjab. According to Police officials, the killing was linked to ongoing gang rivalry and appears to have been a targeted attack stemming from inter-gang conflict.
On the intervening night of February 26 and 27, 2024, a gang-related clash on Hambran Road in Ludhiana resulted in the death of gangster Suraj Parkash aka Babbu, and injuries to another, Harpreet. Both persons were previously affiliated with the gang led by Sukhpreet Singh aka Sukha Badewalia, who was himself killed by a fellow gang member in May 2023.
On January 14, 2024, Awan Kumar Khullar aka Sonu Cheema, the sarpanch of Adda Chabal village, was shot dead in broad daylight by two unidentified assailants in Tarn Taran District, Punjab. According to the Punjab Police, the murder was orchestrated by Germany-based gangster Amritpal Singh Bath, originally from Mianpur village. Bath, who has been named in 18 criminal cases involving murder, attempted murder, and other serious offences, is believed to have directed the killing from Germany.
Following an eight-year hiatus (2008-2015) during which no incidents of Khalitani terrorism linked incidents were recorded, Punjab has witnessed Khalistani-gangster-linked fatalities – primarily in the form of targeted killings – every year since 2016: three fatalities in 2016; six in 2017; three in 2018; two each in 2019 and 2020; one in 2021; two in 2022; and six in 2023. Almost all of the ‘targeted killings’ in Punjab have been found to be linked to broader transnational networks involving global crime syndicates, drug trafficking operations, and radical Khalistani elements based abroad.
In a shocking incident, former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Sukhbir Singh Badal narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at the Golden Temple, Amritsar, on December 4, 2024. The assailant, Narain Singh Chaura – a former Khalistani militant and founder of the Khalistan Liberation Army (KLA) – fired a shot that missed due to a volunteer’s timely intervention. Chaura, linked to the 2004 Burail jailbreak and reportedly trained in Pakistan, was known for his radical separatist affiliations and vocal criticism of SAD over the ‘sacrilege’ cases.
In a year-end briefing on December 31, 2024, Punjab Police Inspector General (IG) Sukhchain Singh Gill announced that the Punjab Police had dismantled 12 terrorist modules, arrested 66 terrorists, and seized a cache of arms and explosives, including two rifles, 76 pistols/revolvers, two tiffin IEDs, four hand grenades, 758 grams of RDX, and 257 drones, in 2024. The Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) neutralized 198 gangster modules, resulting in 559 arrests and the confiscation of 482 weapons, 102 vehicles, 7 kilograms of heroin, and INR 21.4 million in illicit funds. Additionally, law enforcement agencies recovered 1,099 kilograms of heroin, 991 kilograms of opium, 414 quintals of poppy husk, 294,000 lakh pharmaceutical opioids, and INR 147.3 million in drug money from smugglers. In the realm of cybercrime, 374 FIRs were registered, INR 733.4 million was recovered in fraudulent transactions, and 7,500 harmful URLs were blocked.
To combat the rising drug menace in Punjab, the Punjab Police launched a state-wide campaign titled Yudh Nashian Virudh (War Against Drugs) on March 1, 2025. Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Arpit Shukla reported on May 19, 2025, that since the campaign’s inception, 7,128 FIRs had been registered and 11,954 drug traffickers arrested. The Police seized 515 kilograms of heroin, 224 kilograms of opium, 124 quintals of poppy husk, eight kilograms of charas, 150 kilograms of ganja, 2.5 kilograms of ICE, 2.422 million intoxicant pills/tablets, and INR 97.0 million in drug-related proceeds.
The unexpected victory of two radical pro-Khalistani candidates in the 2024 Parliamentary elections – jailed Khalistani preacher Amritpal Singh and Sarabjeet Singh Khalsa, son of Beant Singh (one of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassins) – unsettled Punjab’s already-volatile political landscape. Their subsequent announcement to launch a new panthic (Sikh religious) political party has further deepened concerns over the mainstreaming of extremist ideologies in the region.
Amid renewed Indo-Pak tensions, safeguarding political stability and communal harmony in Punjab – a strategically sensitive border state – is of paramount importance, especially as Pakistan and radical Khalistani elements remain poised to exploit emerging vulnerabilities. Equally critical is the need to dismantle the expanding drug-gangster-terrorist nexus, actively supported by Pakistan, which poses a grave challenge to India’s internal security and necessitates a comprehensive, coordinated, and sustained policy response.