Babbar Khalsa threats and police ‘dhakka’ allegations mark campaigning for Tarn Taran bypoll

Threats to politicians
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring has received death threats along with party leader from Tarn Taran, Rajbir Singh Bhullar. The latter has filed a First Information Report (FIR) in connection with threats made to him over the phone by the Pakistan-based chief of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Harinder Singh Rinda. In these calls, Rinda is also believed to have levelled threats against Raja Warring.

A senior Punjab Police officer confirmed that Rinda had indeed made threat calls to the two Congress leaders. “We have alerted the government about the credible threats made by Rinda and also recommended that the security of these individuals be increased. The final decision rests with the government,” said the officer.

The Tarn Taran Assembly bypoll, scheduled for November 11 in the border district, has become a flashpoint for allegations of electoral malpractices amid a fiercely contested race between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress, and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

Opposition parties, particularly the Congress and SAD, have accused the AAP of fostering a “gangster raj” through threats and ransom demands to sway voters, while alleging police complicity in high-handed tactics to suppress rivals.

Threats by gangsters have emerged as a central campaign issue, with Opposition leaders claiming that jailed or foreign-based criminals—often linked to networks like those of Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Amritpal Singh Bath, among others—are being leveraged to intimidate voters, sarpanches, and candidates.

Bath, who is hiding abroad, is allegedly calling up sarpanches in the constituency and compelling them to rustle up votes for a relative of his who has been fielded by the SAD as a candidate.

During the Congress’s campaign launch in Tarn Taran, Raja Warring revealed that residents were already receiving “threats and ransom calls” from gangsters.

Sukhbir Badal slams police ‘dhakka’
SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal has also emerged as a vocal critic of alleged police overreach or ‘dhakka’ as it is called in Punjabi. The party, which has fielded Sukhwinder Kaur Randhawa as its candidate, has accused the Punjab Police—particularly under Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Tarn Taran Dr Ravjot Kaur Grewal—of acting as an extension of the AAP to stifle Opposition campaigning.

On Saturday, Badal lodged a complaint yet again with Election Commission observers in Tarn Taran, accusing the district police and the SSP of high-handedness and bias towards the AAP, and demanded her immediate transfer. He alleged that several SAD workers had been arrested by the police on Saturday morning in a bid to intimidate the party.

The SAD had earlier too filed a formal complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI), accusing the AAP of “gross misuse” of police to coerce support for its candidate Harmeet Singh Sandhu. The SAD president, accompanied by party candidate Randhawa, asserted that the SSP as well as Superintendent of Police (Detective) Riputapan Singh and Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) Staff In-charge Prabhjit Singh were misusing their official position to conduct illegal raids on SAD workers and demanded an impartial probe into their conduct.

Asserting that this intimidation was being led by SSP Grewal, the SAD candidate said that earlier the SSP had lodged a false FIR against her daughter Kanchanpreet Kaur and others, in which they were granted interim relief by the court.

The SAD had lodged an ECI complaint on November 6 after two unidentified individuals, claiming to be police officials of CIA branch, chased Kanchanpreet. The incident, videographed by bystanders, occurred in Tarn Taran and involved a private car with a fake number plate. The men, out of uniform, cited deputation from SP Riputapan Singh and CIA In-charge Prabhjit Singh, but produced no written orders.

The SAD labeled this an “attempt to intimidate and threaten” the candidate’s family, violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), potentially at the “behest of state machinery.”

SSP refutes allegations
Speaking to The Indian Express, SSP Tarn Taran Dr Ravjot Kaur Grewal refuted the allegations, asserting that “all actions are per law” and promising a detailed report to the ECI. “We have arrested one person today and we have provided all the details pertaining to his arrest. We will give a detailed reply to the Election Commission. As for other SAD persons being claimed to have been arrested, I do not have details at present, but we will get those too,” she said.

The SSP further said that as far as the allegation of chasing Kanchanpreet was concerned, the CIA staff was on a ‘secret task’ and it was deployed in the crowded market in the town where all political parties have offices. Regarding the allegation that the number plate on the car belonged to a two-wheeler, the concerned officer said he had borrowed the car from someone. We are investigating the matter, and in case someone is blameworthy, we will take action,” she said.

During a roadshow and public address in Tarn Taran on November 6, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal issued a strong warning to local gangsters and criminals amid ongoing concerns over law and order in Punjab. He vowed to eliminate “gangster culture” from the region as part of three key guarantees for Tarn Taran voters.

His specific statement on gangsters, delivered in Hindi, was, “The gangsters and goons of Tarn Taran should leave not just this area but the entire Punjab, or else they will be wiped out.”