FBI’s Arrest of Harpreet Singh Highlights Pakistan’s Link with Pro-Khalistan Activists
NEW DELHI, Apr 18: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which arrested alleged terrorist Harpreet Singh has linked him to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence and pro-Khalistan terror group, Babbar Khalsa International.
Highlighting the alleged collaboration of Harpreet Singh with these two organisations, the FBI not only indicated the purported role of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in cross-border terrorism but also its alleged links to pro-Khalistan elements in India.
Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Passia, is considered to be a gangstar-turned-terrorist wanted for multiple terror attacks across Punjab. He was arrested by the FBI and Enforcement Removal Operations (ERO) in Sacramento, California, US. According to a statement by the FBI, he has been linked to two international terrorist groups and entered the US illegally.
“Singh is suspected to have collaborated with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Khalistani terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). He had been evading capture by using untraceable burner phones and encrypted applications,” the FBI said in a statement on X.
The FBI underscored the importance of international cooperation to subdue global security threats. It said it collaborated with agents from its legal attache office in New Delhi, which informed them that Singh was wanted for orchestrating at least 16 terror attacks in India.
“This case reinforces the importance of international cooperation in apprehending those who threaten global security,” it added. In January, India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh on Singh. He is wanted in a case of a hand grenade attack on a house in Chandigarh. He was on the run in the case registered on October 1, 2024, carried out on a house in Sector 10/D. Singh and Pakistan-based designated terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda were among the four accused named in a charge-sheet in the Chandigarh hand grenade attack case.
A police investigation had found that Singh provided the accused with explosives, weapons and logistical support through his local aides. The attack was intended to target a retired Punjab Police officer. A total of 33 FIRs have been registered at different police stations and 10 lookout circulars issued against Singh, as per a police dossier.
His affiliation with the Bhagwanpuria gang marks Singh’s involvement in organised crime, which lay the foundation for his subsequent collaboration with Rinda. He was lately roped in by the designated terrorist of the BKI to execute terror attacks in Punjab. Between late 2024 and early 2025, the BKI orchestrated a series of 16 terror attacks across Punjab, including 14 hand grenade assaults, one improvised explosive device (IED) attack, and one rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) strikes targeting police establishment and officials’ residences.
(Manas Dasgupta)
