Safety companies in Punjab report a rising sample of ISI-linked assaults allegedly coordinated by Pakistan-based gangster Shezad Bhatti, utilizing recruited locals for low-paid operations. Investigations counsel makes an attempt to revive Khalistan-linked violence by focused blasts, recruitment of susceptible youth, and communal destabilisation
Revealed Date – 7 Could 2026, 10:50 AM
Amritsar: An especially harmful recreation by the ISI is unfolding in Punjab, which has left the companies involved. There was a wave of assaults since February, and the companies see a transparent sample rising. Overseeing these operations is a Pakistan-based gangster who goes by the identify Shezad Bhatti.
Whereas assaults are being claimed by the Khalistan Liberation Military (KLA), officers say that it’s Bhatti who has been coordinating with native gangsters to recruit locals to hold out these assaults.
Preliminary investigations counsel that not all of the youth concerned in such assaults are radicalised. There are a superb variety of youth who’ve been employed after which paid Rs 20,000 per assault. The gangster community, which is behind these recruitments, has usually taken benefit of the monetary situation of those youth.
Some are drug addicts, and they’re prepared to hold out assaults for a sum of Rs 20,000, an official added. For the Punjab Police, it has been a cat-and-mouse recreation. The Punjab Police and the central companies have been relentless in relation to busting modules. The police busted two Babbar Khalsa Worldwide (BKI) modules in Punjab on April 9 and 16. These modules have been working out of Amritsar and Gurdaspur, and following the bust, the police recovered grenades, IEDs and different materials regarding the preparation of the bombs.
An Intelligence Bureau official stated {that a} clear sample is now rising. The specter of the rise of Khalistan can’t be dismissed. Though the companies have largely saved it beneath examine, there appears to be a distinct sample rising in relation to this concern. The official additional stated that it isn’t simply low-intensity blasts which have been happening in Punjab.
Final 12 months, there have been focused killings of sarpanches in Amritsar and Tarn Taran. Those that claimed duty for the assaults stated that the difficulty was private. The companies, nonetheless, see a sample behind these killings and say that the bigger goal is to create worry and panic.
One other concern that has come to gentle is that the Khalistan-backed components would look to focus on BJP leaders. That is clearly aimed toward sending a message to the Narendra Modi authorities, which has a no-nonsense coverage on terror. On April 7 final 12 months, a grenade was hurled on the residence of BJP chief Manoranjan Kalia. The chief, nonetheless, escaped unharmed.
On April 1 this 12 months, a low-intensity blast was reported exterior the Punjab BJP headquarters in Chandigarh. There have been no casualties, however the intention of the Khalistan-backed components was to create panic and ship throughout a message to the celebration. One other sample that the companies see as rising is relating to assaults on spiritual locations.
In March final 12 months, two motorcycle-borne assailants hurled a hand grenade on the Thakurdwara Sanatan Mandir in Amritsar. There have been no casualties, however the blast broken partitions and shattered home windows. One other official stated that the assaults on a spiritual website clearly level to an ISI hyperlink.
It’s clear that the ISI desires to drive a wedge between the Sikhs and Hindus and incite communal tensions in Punjab. Even on the peak, on the Khalistan motion, this was a sample that was witnessed with Hindus being focused. The latest spate of assaults has alarmed the companies. There have been three incidents in 10 days in Punjab. It’s a clear sign that the ISI desires to make a powerful assertion in Punjab and therefore has requested its stooges to ramp up strikes.
Two IED explosions happened inside hours on Could 5. Each happened close to delicate installations. Whereas one occurred close to the BSF headquarters in Jalandhar, the opposite happened close to the Khalsa Navy Camp in Amritsar.
On April 27, an try to hold out an IED blast at a railway monitor in Patiala was foiled. Officers say that the ISI has been deploying each instrument at its disposal to revive the Khalistan motion.
With operations slowing down in Jammu and Kashmir, it desperately wants one other entrance to play. Because of this the ISI has been making such a serious push in Punjab, the official added. Within the coming days, the problem shall be immense, and the Intelligence companies warn that these Khalistani components will use each trick up their sleeve to wreak havoc in Punjab.