New Delhi, March 12 – Indian security agencies have issued an alert stating that elements linked to Khalistan, based in Pakistan, will make several attempts to smuggle large quantities of narcotics into the country in the coming months.
In addition, Indian agencies have learned that four training camps that had been showing very limited activity have suddenly become active. According to estimates, around 300 people associated with the Khalistan movement are being trained at these camps, an official said.
The Khalistan network, with the help of the ISI and Jaish-e-Mohammad, has managed to recruit several individuals to be part of their organization.
It has been learned that the facilities at Kot Lakhpat and Attock are being used to train those involved in the drug smuggling racket. There are also camps at Chakwal and Gurjanwala, which are exclusively used to train terrorists in the use of weapons, ammunition, and bomb-making. Furthermore, the Khalistani elements are also trying to create death squads to be used in Punjab, an official said.
The current focus is on narcotics smuggling. The ISI has instructed these terror groups to simply focus on raising funds. New routes are also being explored through which drugs can be smuggled and large sums of money can be raised.
The sudden increase in activity is due to the fact that the activities of these Khalistani elements are being heavily curbed in countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom. These countries have agreed to work closely with India on this issue, as the threat is both internal and external.
With international activity under scrutiny, the ISI decided that it was time to enhance operations within Pakistan and then focus on hitting Punjab. The Khalistanis clearly need funds and hence they would try to go into overdrive to enhance narcotics smuggling, another official said.
The Khalistan movement is being overseen by five individuals who have been provided shelter by Pakistan. The top five, as the Indian agencies describe them, are the ones who control the entire network that spans across various countries in the world.
A dossier states that the top leader continues to be Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) chief, Wadhwa Singh Babbar. He operates out of the Gulbarg locality in Lahore and has the complete protection of the Pakistan establishment. The ISI has instructed him to ramp up activity at training camps and also plan on high-profile assassinations and terror attacks in and around Punjab.
The other top operative who is part of this rebuilding exercise is Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda. He has become active in recent months and is working along with Babbar in the ongoing operation.
The other prominent Khalistan terror group bosses are Gajinder Singh, founder of the Dal Khalsa, Lakhbhir Singh Rode, the head of the International Sikh Federation (ISYF), and Paramjit Singh Panjwar, the head of the Khalistan Commando Force. Singh reportedly died of a heart attack in 2024, while Rode’s death was reported in 2023. Panjwar was shot dead in Lahore in May 2023.
The ISI had around six months back instructed these groups to work under a unified command, so that the chances of disagreements and carrying out operations individually could be avoided. Currently, according to an Intelligence Bureau official, the big boss of this syndicate is Wadhwa Singh Babbar. The official said that the BKI is one of the most lethal groups and hence it is leading the operations from Pakistan.
Officials say that these elements would wait for an opportune time and then ramp up drug smuggling. The BKI would be using both drones and foot soldiers to increase narco smuggling into Punjab, the official also added.
