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Society
Punjab Jails Hub of 'Anti-National Activities'
by Jaideep Sarin and Parminder Singh Bariana
Jails in Punjab have become a hub of 'anti-national
activities' with Khalistani prisoners speaking over mobile phones to
contacts outside who are in touch with Pakistan, a secret report of the
Punjab Police says.
This is a dangerous development in view of the
Pakistani intelligence agency's attempt to revive terrorism of the 1980s
in Punjab, officers with access to the report said.
The report,
sent to intelligence officials across Punjab this month, has indicated
that Pakistan-based terrorists and their Pakistani handlers were trying to
revive terrorism in the state.
'Many inputs (have) indicated that
jails are becoming fertile ground for anti-national activities,' said the
report, a copy of which is with IANS.
'The CID (Crime Investigation
Department) and CI (Central Intelligence) units should prepare a list of
terrorists in jails using mobile phones, obtain their CDRs (call detail
records) and shortlist numbers that need to be taken on legal
interception,' said the report.
The report, sent by an additional
director general of police, has cited the recent killings of social and
political activist Rulda Singh in Patiala and Lily Kumar in Mansa town and
their killers' links with known terrorists.
It has pointed out to
attempts by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and
Pakistan-based terrorists to send consignments of arms and ammunition,
explosives and drugs into Punjab to revive terrorism.
Security
agencies in neighboring Rajasthan last week recovered from Barmer sector
a huge quantity of RDX and other explosives and arms, which were destined
for Punjab.
Intelligence officials have been asked to keep a close
tab on pro-terrorist 'bhog' (memory service) advertisements and 'pro-Bhindranwale'
stickers being sold across the state. Sikh separatist leader Jarnail Singh
Bhindranwale was killed in the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984 when the
Indian Army stormed the holiest Sikh shrine.
'The traditional
support base of terrorism, including granthis (religious priests), Akhand
Kirtani jathas (hymn singers), bailed out terrorists, old harborers,
sympathizers and over-ground terrorists should be kept under discreet
watch,' the report said.
The report has said that terrorist
collaborators in Europe, the US and Canada were active in sending funds
and acting as coordinators in all these activities. It stated that
former terrorists on bail or those freed from prison were also involved in
the bid to revive terrorism in Punjab.
Punjab has about a dozen
major jails, and the most notorious of these, according to police sources,
are located in Jalandhar, Nabha, Patiala and Amritsar. Intelligence
officials have been asked to strengthen their networks and to penetrate
gangs of potential terrorists.
Even though Punjab has a 553-km
fully barbed wire fenced and electrified international border with
Pakistan, smuggling of drugs with links to terror elements takes place in
a big way.
In recent years alone, security agencies have recovered
over 1,000 kg of heroin and other drugs worth nearly Rs.50 billion
(Rs.5,000 crore) in the international market.
Punjab faced a
bloody phase of Sikh terrorism between 1981 and 1995 which left over
25,000 people dead. The victims included civilians, Sikh separatists and
security personnel.
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