Former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh killer had exposed LeT link

CHANDIGARH: Intelligence officers in Punjab are not ruling out the possibility that Khalistani terror groups based in Pakistan are working in tandem with the terrorists who attacked Dinanagar in Gurdaspur district on Monday morning.

Only in January, the Punjab Police, in an elaborate operation with Thailand cops, had nabbed and extradited Jagtar Singh Tara the self-styled chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) from Bangkok. He is wanted for the assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh in 1995. During interrogation, Tara revealed that terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has been training and assisting Khalistani terrorists in Pakistan for the past three years.

The revelations have forced the cops to look into the role of LeT in the 2011 Ambala RDX haul from a car, which was intercepted by Delhi police while on its way from Jammu. The RDX was meant to carry out a major blast in the national capital on Diwali that year and KTF had openly claimed responsibility.

The report also revealed that Tara had held three meetings with LeT terrorist Asdullah Maulvi between 2012 and 2014. The two were apparently introduced to each other by another Khalistani terrorist and Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale's nephew Lakhbir Singh Rode.

Tara had escaped from the Burail Jail in January 2004, along with two terror accused and a murder accused. It is believed that he took shelter in Pakistan before shifting base to Thailand.

Senior police officials told TOI that Tara had asked LeT for foot soldiers in Punjab to carry out attacks. Tara had said in the interrogation that six LeT men were backing KTF. TOI had reported on Tara's revelations in May.

Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Punjab police had prepared the report in mid-April. Shockingly, on April 12, a Khalistan supporter had shot at and injured Punjab Shiv Sena general secretary Harvinder Soni in Gurdaspur while playing volleyball.