Modus Operandi: Babbar Khalsa raises funds in Canada, ISI channelises it for terror at Wolverhampton

New Delhi, Apr 20: The recent chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency against 7 operatives of the Babbar Khalsa International in connection with a narco smuggling case clearly suggests that the ISI continues to be backed heavily by the ISI, which is aiming cause a huge unrest in the country.

When a clean up act was launched in Punjab against the Khalistan terrorists, several of the top brass fled to Pakistan and took shelter with the help of the ISI. In 2012, the Intelligence Bureau put up a report indicating that the Babbar Khalsa was attempting a comeback in India with the help of the ISI.

The report said that the BKI with the ISI was drumming up support abroad and in the bargain earned a lot of sympathisers. While Pakistan continued to provide shelter, the Khalistan outfits began drumming up support abroad, especially in Canada, UK and the US. During the farmer protests it was seen that several pro-Khalistan voices had offered support and were attempting to create unrest in several parts of the country in the name of the protests.

An IB officer tells OneIndia that in the case of the Babbar Khalsa, the main hubs apart from Pakistan were in Wolverhampton and Birmingham in the United Kingdom. A majority of the terror funds would land in these places and the same would be generated in Canada. A team of the ISI operates in Wolverhampton only to oversee the international operations of the BKI.

While on one hand the BKI collects funds from sympathisers, it is also actively into narco smuggling. The NIA said in its most recent chargesheet against the BKI that during a search on September 20 2020 at the International Border near RS Pura, Jammu heroin weighing 61 kilograms, opium of 1.2 kilograms along with 2 pistols, 3 magazines and 100 live rounds were recovered.

Investigation in the case has revealed that the seven chargesheeted accused in this case were part of a Narco-terrorism module of terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

The prime objective of this module was to raise funds for BKI through proceeds of narcotics. Each member of this module had unique role and responsibility in execution of this conspiracy.

The modus operandi involved smuggling of narcotics and arms/ammunition across the International Border in Jammu region and further supply and sale of the same in the state of Punjab. The proceeds of narcotics so generated were to be used for funding terrorist activities of BKI.

The arms so smuggled were to be used by members of BKI for violent terrorist acts. After the arrest of the above mentioned accused, further searches were conducted which had led to recovery of drug proceeds of Rs 9,06,300, more arms and ammunitions and other incriminating materials, the NIA also stated.