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Hans India
24-05-2025
- Hans India
Amritsar temple attack: NIA arrests two terror operatives
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said it has arrested an important associate of the two Khalistan Liberation Force-linked terror operatives who had carried out a grenade attack on a temple in Punjab's Amritsar district in March. Absconder Bhagwant Singh, alias Manna Bhatti, was nabbed on Wednesday from Akalgarh village in Amritsar district, taking the total arrests in the case to four. The attack was carried out by Gursidak Singh and Vishal, alias Chuchi, who had hurled a hand grenade at Thakurdwara Sanatan Mandir in Amritsar on March 15, as per the NIA investigation. The attack was claimed by the proscribed terror organisation, KLF. While Gursidak Singh was killed in a shootout with police following the temple attack, Vishal was arrested. Two other men, identified as Diwan Singh, alias Sunny, and Sahib Singh, alias Saba, were also arrested in the case. As per the NIA investigation, Bhagwant Singh, who was absconding since the incident, had knowingly provided shelter to Gursidak Singh and Vishal. The duo had stayed with him during the planning of the terror attack and also thereafter. The grenade used in the attack was also concealed behind Bhagwan's house with his knowledge. As per further investigations in the case RC-08/2025/NIA/DLI, Bhagwant Singh had even received terror funds in his bank account. The NIA is continuing its investigation in the case as part of its crackdown against the KLF associates in India and the terror outfit's foreign-based nodes. In a 'first attack' on a religious place in Amritsar city, close to the border with Pakistan, two assailants hurled an explosive at the Thakurdwara Temple complex, damaging its walls and shattering its window panes. The CCTV footage showed the attackers arriving at the location on a bike with a flag mounted on it. After waiting for a few seconds, one of them threw a grenade, and both fled the spot. Police believe the attack was carried out as part of a planned strategy to trigger fear amid the Holi festivities.
Hans India
22-05-2025
- Hans India
Amritsar temple attack: NIA arrests accomplice of two terror operatives
New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday said it has arrested an important associate of the two Khalistan Liberation Force-linked terror operatives who had carried out a grenade attack on a temple in Punjab's Amritsar district in March. Absconder Bhagwant Singh, alias Manna Bhatti, was nabbed on Wednesday from Akalgarh village in Amritsar district, taking the total arrests in the case to four. The attack was carried out by Gursidak Singh and Vishal, alias Chuchi, who had hurled a hand grenade at Thakurdwara Sanatan Mandir in Amritsar on March 15, as per the NIA investigation. The attack was claimed by the proscribed terror organisation, KLF. While Gursidak Singh was killed in a shootout with police following the temple attack, Vishal was arrested. Two other men, identified as Diwan Singh, alias Sunny, and Sahib Singh, alias Saba, were also arrested in the case. As per the NIA investigation, Bhagwant Singh, who was absconding since the incident, had knowingly provided shelter to Gursidak Singh and Vishal. The duo had stayed with him during the planning of the terror attack and also thereafter. The grenade used in the attack was also concealed behind Bhagwan's house with his knowledge. As per further investigations in the case RC-08/2025/NIA/DLI, Bhagwant Singh had even received terror funds in his bank account. The NIA is continuing its investigation in the case as part of its crackdown against the KLF associates in India and the terror outfit's foreign-based nodes. In a "first attack" on a religious place in Amritsar city, close to the border with Pakistan, two assailants hurled an explosive at the Thakurdwara Temple complex, damaging its walls and shattering its window panes. The CCTV footage showed the attackers arriving at the location on a bike with a flag mounted on it. After waiting for a few seconds, one of them threw a grenade, and both fled the spot. Police believe the attack was carried out as part of a planned strategy to trigger fear amid the Holi festivities. While the temple's wall was damaged in the explosion, a priest and his family, who were residing on the upper floor of the temple, were unharmed. The temple grenade attack came a day after three motorcycle-borne assailants shot dead Mangat Rai Manga, the district president of Shiv Sena, in Punjab's Moga district, owing to "personal rivalry".
India Today
05-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Over 100 UK MPs seek release of terror-accused Jagtar Singh Johal from Tihar
Over 100 MPs and their peers in the UK have written a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy, urging him to take action to secure the release of Jagtar Singh Johal, who was arrested in 2017 in Punjab on terror the 38-year-old British national, is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency for his alleged role in targeted killings carried out by the banned Khalistani Liberation Force (KLF).advertisementJohal is currently lodged in New Delhi's Tihar Jail. Johal is accused of travelling to Paris in 2013 to give 3,000 (Rs 3.35 lakh) to other KLF members, according to Indian law enforcement agencies. The money provided by Johal was allegedly for weapons used in a series of murders and attacks on Hindu nationalists and other religious leaders in India, between 2016 and 2017, according to a BBC Singh Johal was also accused of conspiring to murder Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) leader Ravinder ACQUITTED IN ONE OF 8 CASES BY MOGA COURTThe letter to British Foreign Secretary David Lammy comes a month after a local court, in Punjab's Moga, acquitted six out of nine accused in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Arms Act, and various sections of the was one of those who was acquitted by the court in Johal still faces seven other cases under the UAPA, Arms Act, among others, in National Investigation Agency (NIA) MPS SEEK DIPLOMATIC ACTIONCiting the March acquittal of Johal by the Moga court, 117 cross-party MPs and their peers sought "urgent British diplomatic pressure", The Guardian letter said that there was a "window of opportunity" to secure Johal's release following his acquittal in the March case."The judgment on the evidence led is crucial and relevant to securing his release, because it is the same evidence that exists in the other outstanding federal court cases," the letter letter also alleged that Johal was being detained without justification, subjected to torture, and coerced into making a false FOREIGN SECRETARY TO MEET JOHAL'S BROTHERJohal's brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal, who is also a Labour councillor, said the UK Foreign Secretary would meet him on May 8."I'm glad the Foreign Secretary is meeting me again, as it shows he recognises that this is a make-or-break moment for Jagtar," BBC quoted Gurpreet as saying."We've seen that today at the Supreme Court – just the latest in an endless series of delays. This is the moment of truth for David Lammy (Foreign Secretary): will he live up to his promises, or will he fail Jagtar like the last six foreign secretaries did?," he the Supreme Court of India last week on Thursday (May 1) deferred Johal's bail plea, following which the UK MPs wrote a letter to the Foreign letter, spearheaded by Johal's local MP Douglas McAllister, was signed by ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, and senior Tory MP David Davis, among Dolan, Deputy Executive Director of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Reprieve, which has been backing calls for Johal's release, said it was time for the government to act."The previous UK government wasted years of Jagtar Singh Johal's life, hiding behind the fiction that due process is possible in a case based on a torture confession," the BBC quoted Dolan as saying.
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
MPs urge David Lammy to intervene as British man remains in jail in India
Hopes that Jagtar Singh Johal, a British Sikh man held in an Indian jail for seven years, would be released on bail were dashed on Thursday when his case was deferred by the Indian supreme court possibly until after the summer, prompting calls from MPs for the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, to intervene. Lammy is due to meet Johal's brother again next week. There had been hopes Johal would finally be released at least on bail after in March he was cleared of all charges in a case in Punjab that exactly parallels the charges laid against him in the federal courts. He has not been convicted of any crime since his arrest in November 2017. Johal, from Dumbarton in Scotland, is accused of being a member of a terror group, the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), which has carried out attacks in Indian Punjab. The charges against him include that he travelled to Paris in 2013 and delivered £3,000 to other KLF figures, with the money then used to buy weapons that were used in a series of murders and attacks against Hindu nationalist and other religious leaders in 2016 and 2017. He has denied the charges. Johal claims he was tortured at the outset of his detention and forced to make a confession by signing a blank sheet of paper. A UN working party has claimed he is being held under arbitrary detention. A new letter to Lammy, signed by 117 cross-party MPs and peers, calls for urgent British diplomatic pressure. It says there is a 'window of opportunity' to secure Johal's release following his acquittal in one of the cases against him. The letter says: 'The judgment on the evidence led is crucial and relevant to securing his release, because it is the same evidence that exists in the other outstanding federal court cases.' The campaign group Reprieve, which has been backing calls for his release, said it understood bail had been deferred because his case had become enmeshed in a broader consideration of the length of pre-trial detention in cases brought under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, a law human rights defenders claim has been abused to shut down civic freedoms in India. Reprieve said Johal's continued detention on the same charges in a different court after his acquittal challenged the principle of double jeopardy, a risk recognised in Indian and international law. The Indian authorities do not claim Johal was directly involved in any of the attacks. All the cases are based on the same alleged confession: Johal signed his name on a blank piece of paper after police tortured him with electricity and brought petrol into the cell and threatened to burn him alive. Johal's brother Gurpreet Singh Johal, a Labour councillor in West Dunbartonshire, said: 'I'm glad the foreign secretary is meeting me again, as it shows he recognises that this is a make-or-break moment for Jagtar. 'The case against my brother has been tested in court and rejected, but the Indian authorities will keep him in prison for decades if the UK government doesn't act to secure his release. 'We've seen that today at the supreme court – just the latest in an endless series of delays. This is the moment of truth for David Lammy: will he live up to his promises, or will he fail Jagtar like the last six foreign secretaries did?' Dan Dolan, the deputy executive director of Reprieve, said: 'This is a politically motivated prosecution of a young British human rights defender, and the process is the punishment. Jagtar has been found not guilty once, after prosecutors failed to present any credible evidence against him in seven years. For him to remain imprisoned for decades, as duplicate trials drag on in defiance of the principle of double jeopardy, would be an obscene injustice. It is time for the government to act on its strong statements in opposition and do what it takes to bring Jagtar home.'
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
MPs call for 'quick' action to free Jagtar Singh Johal
More than 100 MPs and peers have written to the foreign secretary calling for "quick and decisive" action to secure the release of a Scottish Sikh man in prison in Singh Johal, from Dumbarton, was arrested in November 2017 in connection with terror-related has not been convicted of any crime and in March was cleared in one of nine cases against Foreign Office has been approached for comment and has previously said the UK government remains committed to working for faster progress on the case. Mr Johal's family and legal team had hoped India's Supreme Court would issue a ruling on Thursday on whether he would be granted bail but they say there was no decision and no timeframe for the matter to be Johal is accused of being a member of a terror group, the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), which has carried out attacks in the Punjab region. The charges against him stated that he travelled to Paris in 2013 and delivered £3,000 to other KLF figures, with the money then used to purchase weapons which were used in a series of murders and attacks against Hindu nationalist and other religious leaders across 2016 and Johal claims he was tortured in the early days of his detention and forced to make a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy has been signed by cross-party MPs and says there is a "window of opportunity" to secure Jagtar's release following his acquittal in one of the cases against letter says: "The judgement on the evidence led is crucial and relevant to securing his release, because it is the same evidence that exists in the other outstanding federal court cases."The 38-year-old's family says the Lammy has agreed to meet them on 8 have repeatedly called for the UK government to do more to secure his release through diplomatic channels with the Indian government. 'Wasted years' Mr Johal's brother Gurpreet Singh Johal, who is also a Labour councillor, said: "I'm glad the foreign secretary is meeting me again, as it shows he recognises that this is a make-or-break moment for Jagtar. "The case against my brother has been tested in court and rejected, but the Indian authorities will keep him in prison for decades if the UK government doesn't act to secure his release. "We've seen that today at the Supreme Court – just the latest in an endless series of delays. This is the moment of truth for David Lammy: will he live up to his promises, or will he fail Jagtar like the last six foreign secretaries did?"Dan Dolan, deputy executive director of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Reprieve, said it was time for the government to said: "The previous UK government wasted years of Jagtar Singh Johal's life, hiding behind the fiction that due process is possible in a case based on a torture confession. "This is a politically motivated prosecution of a young British human rights defender, and the process is the punishment."The letter to Lammy was issued by the Labour MP for Jagtar's constituency, Douglas McAllister, who said the cross-party support was very significant. He said: "The failure to grant bail to my constituent, Jagtar Singh Johal, serves to demonstrate the need for greater urgency by the foreign secretary and the UK government to secure my constituent's immediate release and his return to his family in West Dunbartonshire. "I will be advising the foreign secretary when we meet next week of the strength of feeling across both houses that now is the time to act."The Indian government has repeatedly denied that Mr Johal was mistreated and has said due process has been followed in the case against him.
