CHANDIGARH, June 20 (UNI) In the wake of recent arrests in the Delhi twin blasts case, Punjab DGP S S Virk today said the Babbar Khalsa International militant organisation had also started recruiting Hindus to carry out their functioning across the country and abroad.
The Punjab DGP quoted the arrests of militants Jagan Nath and Vikas by Delhi police in the twin balsts case and another arrest of Ashwani Dadwal in Hoshiarpur as the live examples that the BKI had deviated from its traditional attitude of recruiting only Sikhs with flowing beards.
"It needs a lot of motivation to convert the mindset of the Hindu boys and the Babbars (BKI top brass) are doing this as a part of their changed strategy to operate more effectively," Mr Virk said at a press conference here.
Stating that so far four Hindus belonging to the BKI were arrested in the case related to the Delhi blasts, the DGP said that one of them had also given a speech in Lahore as a BKI militant during his training tenure in an ISI camp in Pakistan.
"These non-Sikhs are joining the BKI and probably other Punjab militant outfits for the sake of money, while they are allured by the Punjab militants with settlement abroad in developed countries like the United Kingdom and USA," Mr Virk said.
He said that Punjab police had so far arrested 24 persons, including militants and suspected militants, in the ongoing operation across the state in the wake of the Delhi balsts in cinema halls and the arrest of Jagtar Singh Hawara.
In response to a question, he said Punjab police had rounded up a large number of people, besides the 24 arrests, and some of them were being released after preliminary inquiries.
The DGP, however, did not give the axact number of persons rounded up so far without registering any case against them.
Giving details about the operation, he said 12 fresh cases were registered against these 24 arrested persons, nabbed from different places within the state, and a total of 35 Kg RDX ahd been seized in eight out of these 12 cases.
All these 24 arrested militants belonged to BKI, the DGP said, adding that the BKI was the only active organisation visible in the state.
The DGP also said that BKI was not willing to discard the ideology of separatism, mainly becauise the organisation was getting a lot of money in the name of Khalistan.
The Punjab police also displayed the RDX, and other explosive material seized during the ongoing operation at the press conference.
