Wanted Khalistani terrorist Paramjit Singh Panjwar gunned down in Lahore

Wanted terrorist and Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) chief Paramjit Singh Panjwar was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in Johar Town of Lahore in Pakistan on Saturday, according to intelligence sources.

Radical Sikh outfit Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh confirmed the news report. “We have received the information that he was out on a morning walk when two motorcycle-borne assailants shot him dead.” Panjwar’s gunman, provided to him by the Pakistan government, opened fire at the shooters, killing one of them and injuring the other, he added.

It is suspected that Panjwar’s murder is linked to an inter-gang rivalry over drugs, as he was actively involved in the transportation of drugs through the use of drones in Punjab, sources said.

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Operating from Pak

Panjwar joined the KCF in 1986, prior to which he was working in a Central Cooperative Bank in Sohal. He took charge of KCF in the 1990s and crossed over to Pakistan and stayed in Lahore while his wife and children relocated to Germany.

Though he was inactive for the last couple of years, Singh had been operating from Lahore and was involved in arranging arms training for youths in Pakistan. He was engaged in supplying arms and ammunition and subsequent infiltration into India for targeting VIPs and economic installations.

Panjwar was also involved in broadcasting highly seditious and separatist programmes on Radio Pakistan, intended to incite minorities against the Indian government. He was active in the smuggling of drugs and was a major conduit between smugglers and terrorists, the Ministry of Home Affairs had said in a notification that designated him a terrorist under UAPA.

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Promoting drug trade

“Panjwar’s complicity in promoting drug trade and Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) operation in Punjab are well documented. Efforts are being made by his organisation KCF to reactive former militants, sleeper cells and also those on bail and it has been in favour of forming nexus with other forces hostile to India,” the ministry had said.

KCF came into existence in February 1986 and the modus-operandi of this organisation was to commit bank robberies and kidnappings for ransom for use to purchase sophisticated weapons for terrorist activities. The banned outfit under the patronage of Panjwar was involved in various terrorist attacks in India.

Hailing from Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, Panjwar, 63, was heading the banned KCF -Panjwar group and was involved in drug and weapons smuggling and other terror activities when he was designated as a terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020.

(With Agency inputs)