Punjab Police asks dera heads to inform before going abroad

Though a senior police officer said these kind of advisories were normal and issued in routine,highly placed sources said the state police had increased its vigil and stepped up the security of deras in Punjab,after the Austrian police foiled an attempt on the life of G S Dhillon,chief of Radha Soami sect,last week. The Vienna police had initially arrested four persons,but let off three of them later.

The arrested man is a member of the banned outfit,Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF),it is learnt.

Last year,the second-in-command of Dera Sachkhand,Sant Ramanand,was shot dead in Vienna.

The Punjab Police received inputs from central intelligence agencies some time ago that militant organisations in European countries had held meetings and were planning to attack religious leaders such as Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmit Ram Rahim,Dera Bhaniarawale chief Baba Piara Singh and G S Dhillon of Radha Soami among others.

The police authorities have asked the policemen on security duty at these deras to remain alert round the clock.

According to reports,there are still 300 listed Khalistani terrorists scattered across the world,mainly in UK,Belgium,Germany,Denmark,France,Italy,USA and Pakistan.

Topping the list is Wadhawa Singh Babbar,chief of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). His son-in-law Satnam Singh Malian operates from Germany.

Explaining the reason why dera heads are on the target,a senior police officer said: “Since every sect now wants a separate place of worship instead of common gurdwaras,the Sikh hardliners are opposed to this polarisation among the community.”

The police said these hardliners would lure the unemployed Punjabi youth in India in the name of helping them settle abroad and pay them to carry out terror activities.

The outfits with a strong base abroad are BKI (Germany) and International Sikh Youth Federation (UK and EU countries),Sikh Youth (Belgium) and Sikh Youth of America. Besides,Khalistan Zindabad Force has its base in Switzerland and is headed by Karan Singh,one of the hijackers of an Indian Airlines aircraft who was provided safe passage in Lahore in 1980s.

“Many former small-time miscreants have taken political asylum abroad,though they were not wanted by the police in Punjab,but the hardcore militants have settled in foreign countries without taking asylum,” said an intelligence official.