Who was Paramjit Singh Panjwar, the wanted terrorist shot dead in Lahore

Who was Paramjit Singh Panjwar and why was he living in Lahore?

Paramjit Singh Panjwar was born in Tarn Taran’s Panjwar village in 1960. Until 1986, when he joined the Khalistan Commando Force, he worked at the Central Cooperative Bank in Sohal. In 1986, he joined the KCF, whose commander, Panjwar’s cousin and former policeman Labh Singh, was a major influence on him.

The KCF had been founded in 1986 by Manbir Singh Chaheru. To establish an independent state of Khalistan, the KCF raised funds by committing bank robberies or kidnappings for ransom. The money would be used to buy sophisticated weapons. The group was responsible for various terror attacks on Indian soil, including the killing of General Arun Vaidya, who was the Army chief during Operation Blue Star.

After Chaheru’s arrest, Labh Singh, also known as Sukhdev Singh or Sukha Sipahi, took over. After Labh Singh’s death in the 1990s, the KCF broke into factions, one of which was headed by Panjwar. At one point, Panjwar was a terror in the Majha belt along the Indo-Pakistan border. As the crackdown on Khalistanis by the security forces intensified, Panjwar escaped to Pakistan, and had been living there ever since. The Indian government had repeatedly named Panjwar among the terrorists it wanted Pakistan to repatriate.

Panjwar had kept the KCF alive by raising funds through cross-border heroin trafficking. According to the Union government, “Panjwar had been arranging arms training to youths in Pakistan and remained engaged in supplying of arms and ammunition and subsequent infiltration into India for targeting Very Important Persons (VIPs) and economic installations. He had been broadcasting highly seditious and separatist programmes on Radio Pakistan, intended to incite minorities against the Government of India. He also remained active in the smuggling of drugs and is a major conduit between smugglers and terrorists. Panjwar’s complicity in promoting drug trade and Fake Indian Currency Notes operation in Punjab are well documented.”

Among the FIRs against Panjwar in just one year, from 1989 to 1990, seven were for murder and two under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).

His wife and children are believed to be living in Germany. In 2011, the Punjab police had found that Panjwar’s family managed to get fake passports made by the help of people in India, and had made arrests.