Punjab: NIA court orders confiscation of land belonging to Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Lakhbir Singh

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday said that a special court in Punjab has ordered the confiscation of land belonging to “Designated Individual Terrorist (DIT)” and Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Lakhbir Singh, alias Rode.

The NIA special court in Mohali gave the orders to confiscate the land situated in Kothe Gurupura (Rode) village in Moga district of Punjab.

Lakhbir Singh is a self-styled chief of banned terror outfits International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF).

The NIA special court passed the order in a case (RC-24/2021/NIA/DLI) dated October 1, 2021, which pertains to multiple charges, including Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the Explosive Substances Act 1908, Section 16, 17, 18, 18B, 20, 38 & 39 of Unlawful Activities (P) Act 1967, Section 21B, 27A, 29 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act 1985, and Section 120B of Indian Penal Code.

According to the NIA, this case involves a tiffin bomb blast that occurred on September 15, 2021, around 7.57 pm near Punjab National Bank in Jalalabad in Fazilka district. 

“The investigations revealed that Lakhbir Singh, Pakistan-based self-styled Chief of proscribed terrorist organizations, ISYF and KLF, masterminded the whole conspiracy,” said the National Investigation Agency. “Working in collusion with his Pakistan-based ‘masters’, Lakhbir Singh played a key role in sending consignments of terrorist hardware, including arms, ammunition, custom-made tiffin bombs, grenades, explosives as well as drugs, to carry out terrorist acts, particularly bomb blasts, to instil fear and terror among the people of Punjab.”

“His (Rode's) criminal dossier includes armed attacks on law enforcement personnel, orchestrating IED and bomb blasts, targeted killings of members of the minority community, extortion, fundraising for terrorist operations, and instilling terror among the general populace. To date, a total of nine accused individuals, among them Lakhbir Singh, have been formally charged in this case. The investigation in this case remains open,” added the NIA.

According to the anti-terror agency, Lakhbir Singh had fled to Pakistan around 1996/97.