CHANDIGARH: Khalistani terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode chief of banned organizations International Sikh Youth Federation and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) who was based in Pakistan died in the neighboring country following a cardiac arrest.
Lakhbir was among India's 'most wanted' men and the nephew of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. The 72-year-old, who was the brain of the Khalistani separatist movement, had fled to Pakistan after Bhindranwale's death and settled down in Lahore.
Lakhbir was listed as an `individual terrorist’ under the UAPA as he was accused in the 1985 Kanishka bombing of the Air India plane.
Jasbir Singh Rode brother of Lakhbir Singh has confirmed his death in Pakistan. He said his brother had already been cremated in Pakistan on Monday.
"We have been informed by brother’s son, who lives in Canada, that his father died of a heart attack in Pakistan on December 2. He must have been cremated over there. But we have no confirmation about it. Lakhbir was diabetic and had recently undergone a bypass surgery and had been not keeping well for the past fortnight,’’ said Jasbir.
Lakbir Singh who hails from Rode village in Moga district of the state had initially fled to Dubai but later moved to Pakistan but his family was staying in Canada.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also declared him as the mastermind behind the 2021 Ludhiana court complex blast. He was charged with smuggling Improvised Explosive Devices into India from Pakistan to trigger explosions across Punjab. Some time back the special court of NIA in Mohali ordered the confiscation of land at Kothe Gurupura village near Smalsar in Baghapurana tehsil of Moga district belonging to Rode.
In 2002, India had submitted a list of 20 terrorists demanding their extradition from Pakistan, and his name figured in that. ISYF was founded in 1984 and is quite active in Canada and the UK. ISYF also has linkages with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). He worked closely with Pakistan-based ISI to disrupt peace in India. Also, the killing of Shaurya Chakra awardee Comrade Balwinder Singh in 2020 was planned by Lakhbir, said sources.
Sources said that on March 22, 2002, ISYF was banned under the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) in India. While a year earlier UK banned this group following the ban in the UK, the group changed its name to Sikh Federation-UK (SFUK).
(With inputs from PTI)