Top Khalistani leader Harmeet Singh killed in Pakistan's Lahore
Lahore/IBNS: A top leader of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) has been gunned down in Pakistan's Lahore by a local gang over financial disputes related to drug smuggling, media reports said.
Harmeet Singh, alias 'Happy PhD', was allegedly involved in the murders of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders and followers of Dera Sacha Sauda in Punjab in 2016-2017.
According to media reports, he was killed at the Dera Chahal gurdwara near Lahore on Monday afternoon.
He was a wanted criminal in India especially for his involvement in the smuggling of weapons and drugs from Pakistan.
Reports claimed that of late he had donned the role of chief of Khalistan Liberation Force after the outfit’s head, Harminder Mintoo, was arrested by the Punjab Police from Thailand in 2014.
Mintoo later died of cardiac arrest in jail in April 2018 after attempting an escape from the Nabha jail with a group of gangsters.
Singh, who hails from Chheharta in Amritsar, had been living in Punjab for two decades.
He had a doctorate degree that earned him the alias “PhD” title.
In an exclusive interview with The Tribune last year, Singh's Amritsar-based parents had asked him to surrender.
In October, acting on India’s information, the Interpol had issued “red notices” against at least eight Khalistan-linked terrorists based in different countries, which featured Singh as well.
According to intelligence reports in 2019, Singh was also believed to have planned to carry out an attack on the anniversary of the Operation Bluestar, which flushed out separatists from inside the Golden Temple in June 1984 during the regime of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
However, the plan was foiled.
Besides, he was also a suspect in the grenade attack on a prayer congregation at the Nirankari Bhawan in Rajasansi which killed three persons and left several injured in 2018.
Image credit: Sikh Youth UK@SikhYouthUK_Twitter Handle
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