Arrested by FBI, Happy Passia faces 33 FIRs, 10 Look-Out Circulars in Punjab for terror, violence and extortion

Gaurav Yadav, Director General of Police, Punjab, said Passia’s arrest was “a major milestone in the sustained crackdown on ISI-backed terror networks.”

“Between 2023 and 2025, Passia played a central role in orchestrating targeted killings, grenade attacks on police establishments, and extortion across Punjab and other states. His arrest on April 17, 2025, in Sacramento, USA… is the outcome of excellent international cooperation and exchange of information between the United States and India,” he said.

DGP Yadav said the Punjab police consistently shared intelligence with central agencies. “The message to gangsters based abroad is clear. Crime does not pay and you will have to come back to India and face the consequences,” he added.

Happy Passia and his links to attacks across Punjab

Happy Passia is a native of Pachhia village which falls under the limits of Ramdas police station in Ajnala, Amritsar. He left India for Dubai on April 1, 2018, and returned on February 4, 2019. He thereafter travelled to the United Kingdom on October 11, 2020, and moved to the United States from there. The dossier notes the serial numbers of two Indian passports issued in his name. A Blue Corner notice was issued against him on January 17, 2025, and the issuing of a red corner notice is in progress.

Passia was initially aligned with Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and gang, including his US-based associates Darmanjot Singh (Darman Kahlon) and Amritpal Singh (Amrit Bal). His links with the Bhagwanpuria gang marked Passia’s foray into organised crime, laying the foundation for his subsequent collaboration with Pakistan-based Harwinder Singh Rinda, a designated individual terrorist under the Unidentified Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, and the most active node of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

Between September and October 2023, Passia orchestrated a series of extortion and terror activities in Punjab in collusion with BKI terrorist Rinda. They targeted liquor contractors and businessmen by making extortion calls and executing arson and shooting incidents at liquor vends in Batala and Amritsar to instil fear and force compliance.

Several terror and criminal modules backed by the Rinda-Passia network have been busted by the state police. The modules were raised to target Punjab police establishments, processions carried out by Hindu groups as well as leaders of Hindu groups, serving or retired police officers, and liquor contractors and businessmen in the Amritsar-Batala region for execution to raise funds for terrorism.

The alliance between Passia and Rinda led to the formation of a nefarious network aimed at executing acts of terror across Punjab. Happy Passia’s collaboration with BKI’s Harwinder Singh Rinda intensified the gravity of his actions.

Passia’s participation in planning and orchestrating terror modules aimed at targeting key figures in Punjab underscores a significant threat, the dossier indicated. Between late 2024 and early 2025, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a proscribed terrorist organisation, orchestrated a series of 16 terror attacks across Punjab targeting police establishment and officials’ residences.

An IED was planted near Ajnala police station on November 23, 2024, and an RPG attack targeted a police establishment at Qila Lal Singh in Gurdaspur on the intervening night of April 6 and 7 this year. Targeted attacks were also made against a retired police officer in Chandigarh and a serving police constable in Batala.

The dossier notes that the attacks were coordinated by Happy Passia under the direction of Rinda, and in collaboration with his other US-based associates: Gurdev Singh alias Jaisal Pehalwan, Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi Nawansharia and Germany-based Swaran Singh alias Jeevan Faujia, along with their local accomplices.

The Rinda-Passia network has been recruiting minors, often struggling with drug addiction, to carry out terrorist activities in exchange for money and narcotics, it said. For instance, in December 2024, Punjab police arrested a 17-year-old involved in planting an IED at Ajnala police station, who confessed to being lured into the operation with promises of drugs and cash.

On January 9, 2025, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for information on Passia in connection with the hand grenade attack at a Chandigarh house targeting a retired police officer.