Express News Service
NEW DELHI: As the motive and operations of pro-Khalistan operatives, who are active in select pockets of Punjab, are now exposed, the government is focusing on blocking the funds that are being pumped in by overseas terrorists and disruptors.
According to officers in the Union home ministry, which is closely monitoring the developments in Punjab, some portions of the funds and logistic support are coming from terror-gangster-drug smuggling network and to a certain extent from ISI through Pak-based pro-Khalistan entities (PKEs), “the main source for terror and radical funding in Punjab is foreign-based PKEs and donors who are collecting and channelising donation from Indian diaspora”.
With the decimation of organised Sikh militancy in Punjab, many militants fled India and pro-movement organisations shifted bases to offshore locations. While many found refuge in Pakistan, others shifted to countries with significant Sikh diaspora. “The recent push to revive the militancy in Punjab is coming from these offshore remnants of Sikh militancy,” sources in the Union home ministry said.
The pro-Khalistan leaders and sympathisers often deliver provoking speeches during religious congregations before the Indian diaspora in the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Italy and Malaysia and appeal for donations by exploiting the religious sentiments of the community, the official confirmed.
In view of this, India has been in active diplomatic dialogues with the nations where these operatives run their mission. Support is also being taken by international organizations, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Egmont Group, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to tackle the terrorist financing bodies.
“They mostly target places like Gurudwaras where huge numbers of devotees gather on weekends and on auspicious occasions,” the official said, adding that certain organisations which claim to be fighting for community justice and the rights of convicts are collecting large-scale donations in this regard. Of late, crowdfunding through social media has emerged as a preferred tool for terror financing, with operatives using it to fund a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of individuals.
“Terror operatives are using this as crowd-funding allows them to evade being detected or captured by the law enforcement agencies,” an official said.
NIA chargesheets 2 BTech grads in K’taka IS case
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge sheet on Thursday against two BTech graduates for conspiring to further the activities of the Islamic State by carrying out acts of arson, sabotage and violence in Karnataka.
The two persons Maaz Muneer Ahmed (23) and Syed Yasin (22) of Shivamogga have been charged under sections 120B, 121A and 122 of IPC, 1860, sections 18, 18B, 20 & 38 of UA (P) Act, 1967 and sections 4 (i) & 5 of ES Act, 1908 and section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. The NIA in the charge sheet said that the two committed over 25 incidents of arson and sabotage. According to an NIA spokesperson, both Maaz and Syed were radicalised by an online foreign-based handler.
NEW DELHI: As the motive and operations of pro-Khalistan operatives, who are active in select pockets of Punjab, are now exposed, the government is focusing on blocking the funds that are being pumped in by overseas terrorists and disruptors.
According to officers in the Union home ministry, which is closely monitoring the developments in Punjab, some portions of the funds and logistic support are coming from terror-gangster-drug smuggling network and to a certain extent from ISI through Pak-based pro-Khalistan entities (PKEs), “the main source for terror and radical funding in Punjab is foreign-based PKEs and donors who are collecting and channelising donation from Indian diaspora”.
With the decimation of organised Sikh militancy in Punjab, many militants fled India and pro-movement organisations shifted bases to offshore locations. While many found refuge in Pakistan, others shifted to countries with significant Sikh diaspora. “The recent push to revive the militancy in Punjab is coming from these offshore remnants of Sikh militancy,” sources in the Union home ministry said. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
The pro-Khalistan leaders and sympathisers often deliver provoking speeches during religious congregations before the Indian diaspora in the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Italy and Malaysia and appeal for donations by exploiting the religious sentiments of the community, the official confirmed.
In view of this, India has been in active diplomatic dialogues with the nations where these operatives run their mission. Support is also being taken by international organizations, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Egmont Group, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to tackle the terrorist financing bodies.
“They mostly target places like Gurudwaras where huge numbers of devotees gather on weekends and on auspicious occasions,” the official said, adding that certain organisations which claim to be fighting for community justice and the rights of convicts are collecting large-scale donations in this regard. Of late, crowdfunding through social media has emerged as a preferred tool for terror financing, with operatives using it to fund a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of individuals.
“Terror operatives are using this as crowd-funding allows them to evade being detected or captured by the law enforcement agencies,” an official said.
NIA chargesheets 2 BTech grads in K’taka IS case
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge sheet on Thursday against two BTech graduates for conspiring to further the activities of the Islamic State by carrying out acts of arson, sabotage and violence in Karnataka.
The two persons Maaz Muneer Ahmed (23) and Syed Yasin (22) of Shivamogga have been charged under sections 120B, 121A and 122 of IPC, 1860, sections 18, 18B, 20 & 38 of UA (P) Act, 1967 and sections 4 (i) & 5 of ES Act, 1908 and section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. The NIA in the charge sheet said that the two committed over 25 incidents of arson and sabotage. According to an NIA spokesperson, both Maaz and Syed were radicalised by an online foreign-based handler.
