Chandigarh/Chennai (IANS): The Punjab Police Thursday arrested a top Khalistani terrorist, Ramandeep Singh alias Goldy, from Chennai airport, a senior police officer said.
Ramandeep Singh is from the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).
As part of efforts to track down wanted terrorists abroad, Ramandeep Singh was traced to Thailand where he shifted from Nepal, Punjab Police Inspector General Gaurav Yadav said here.
“He was further tracked down in Malaysia and, in co-ordination with central agencies and Malaysian authorities, brought to Chennai early today and put under arrest at the airport,” Yadav said in Chandigarh.
Yadav said the Malaysian authorities deported Ramandeep and he was arrested on arrival at Chennai airport.
“The matter was taken up with the Nepalese authorities for cancellation of his fake Nepalese passport, which has been revoked. He was interdicted by the Punjab Police, central agencies and the Malaysian authorities and deported to India,” Yadav said.
The Punjab Police had sent Deputy Superintendents of Police Rajinder Singh Sohal and Tejinderjit Singh Virk to Malaysia for co-ordinating the mechanism of brining back Ramandeep.
“The two officers brought back fugitive terrorist Ramandeep Singh to Chennai airport by Air India flight 621. The police party along with Ramandeep travelled (Thursday) by air from Chennai to New Delhi and by road from New Delhi to Patiala,” Yadav said.
A separate two-member police party of the counter intelligence unit camped in Thailand for three weeks in September-October this year but Ramandeep managed to escape to Malaysia.
Ramandeep Singh is the second major Khalistani terrorist to be arrested by Punjab Police in recent weeks.
Rattandeep Singh, chief of the Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan and a former associate of terrorists Paramjit Singh Panjwar and Wadhawa Singh, was caught in Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Nabbed by the Punjab State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) Sep 17, Rattandeep was based in Pakistan since 1993 and was wanted in a number of cases of bomb blasts.
Ramandeep, who belongs to Bassi Pathana in Ropar district, came into contact with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Darshan Singh who introduced him to the Britain-based terrorist Paramjit Singh, a police officer said.
A terrorist conspiracy to assassinate Rulda Singh, head of the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat organization, was hatched in Britain by Paramjit Singh and executed by Ramandeep. Two Britain-based men, Gursharan Singh and Piara Singh, were also involved in the conspiracy.
Rulda Singh was shot at July 28, 2009 at his house in Patiala district. He succumbed to his injuries Aug 15 at PGI, Chandigarh.
“Ramandeep escaped to Thailand, from where he went to Pakistan and underwent a two-week arms training,” the police spokesman said, adding the man later turned up in Nepal.
In Nepal, Ramandeep developed association with Pakistan-trained terrorist Harminder Singh. The duo roped in Jaswinder Singh, Gurjant Singh and Manjinder Singh to raise a terrorist module which was responsible for two bomb blasts in Patiala and Ambala.
The Patiala blast took place on April 20, 2010.
“After the Patiala blast, Ramandeep went back to Nepal and shifted to Thailand in 2011 under an assumed name and a forged Nepali passport. He worked in a tours and travel agency. He recently set up an export-import firm in Bangkok. He remained in touch with Pakistan-based terrorist leaders and radicals based in North America and Europe,” the spokesman said.
