German Police have arrested Jaswinder Singh Multani, a prominent member of terrorist organization Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), for his involvement in the Ludhiana court blast and conspiracy to target locations in Delhi and Mumbai. Notably, the bomb in Ludhiana court had gone off while being planted, killing the accused who was planting the bomb.
Reportedly, Multani was arrested after the Indian government requested the German authorities for the same. Multani is a close associate of terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannu who founded SFJ. Pannu is involved in several anti-India activities and often provoke Sikhs across the world with his speeches.
Multani was arrested from Erfurt in Central Germany by German authorities.
Multani is also closely connected to Khalistani leaders, including Hardeep Singh Nijjer, Paramjit Singh Pamma, Sabi Singh, Kulwant Singh Mothada and others, as per reports. He has been accused of smuggling weapons and ammunition from Pakistan to Punjab.
45-year-old Multani was previously a resident of Hoshiarpur, Punjab. As per an official quoted by Hindustan Times, he came on the radar of the security agencies for arranging and sending weapons including hand grenades, explosives and pistols from Pakistan to Punjab with the help of Pakistani operatives. The official further added that Multani was planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Punjab using the consignment he smuggled from Pakistan.
Modi Govt requested action from German authorities
The official said that the Modi Government had contacted the German authorities at the highest diplomatic levels and informed them about the involvement of Multani in a conspiracy to target cities including Mumbai and Delhi.
Multani has also been named in the blast that occurred on December 23 at the district court in Ludhiana, in which two people lost their lives, and six people were injured. The incident triggered a high-level alert in the state.
Recent arrests of Khalistani operatives
In February 2020, Punjab Police had arrested four people from Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Ferozpur. They recovered eight countrymade pistols along with ammunition from these people. As per the Police’s statement, they had procured illegal arms to carry out terrorist activities in the state.
Later, a man identified as Jeevan Singh was arrested by the Police. As per the reports, Multani had radicalized him through social media. He was recruited to allegedly target Balbir Singh Rajewal, a key farmer leader. Rajewal has recently been announced as the CM face for the political party floated by the farmer unions to contest upcoming Assembly elections.
The official told HT that Multani also sent funds to Jeevan Singh to arrange weapons to target Rajewal. Another man from Tarn Taran was recruited in August by Multani, who was supposed to arrange two hand grenades for terrorist activities in the state.
In November, British Police had carried out raids on SJF’s Hounslow office. Electronic devices and documents related to the ‘referendum 2020’ were recovered by the Police during the raid. In the same month, National Investigation Agency (NIA) had requested Canadian authorities to declare Sikhs For Justice as a terrorist organization.
Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, Punjab director general of Police, had said in a recent statement that a dismissed head constable, Gagandeep Singh who was killed in the Ludhiana blast while trying to plant an explosive device in the court complex, had links with Khalistani terrorist outfits. He further added that Pakistan-based operatives could be involved in the blast in Ludhiana.
