NEW DELHI: As the motive and operations of pro-Khalistan operatives, who are active in select pockets of Punjab, are now exposed, the government is focusing on blocking the funds that are being pumped in by overseas terrorists and disruptors.
According to officers in the Union Home Ministry, which is closely monitoring the developments in Punjab, some portions of the funds and logistic support are coming from terror-gangster-drug smuggling network and to a certain extent from ISI through Pak-based pro-Khalistan entities (PKEs), “the main source for terror and radical funding in Punjab is foreign-based PKEs and donors who are collecting and channelising donation from Indian diaspora”.
With the decimation of organised Sikh militancy in Punjab, many militants fled India and pro-movement organisations shifted bases to offshore locations. While many found refuge in Pakistan, others shifted to countries with significant Sikh diaspora. “The recent push to revive the militancy in Punjab is coming from these offshore remnants of Sikh militancy,” sources in the Union home ministry said.
The pro-Khalistan leaders and sympathisers often deliver provoking speeches during religious congregations before the Indian diaspora in the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Italy and Malaysia and appeal for donations by exploiting the religious sentiments of the community, the official confirmed.
In view of this, India has been in active diplomatic dialogues with the nations where these operatives run their mission. Support is also being taken by international organizations, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the Egmont Group, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to tackle the terrorist financing bodies.
“They mostly target places like Gurudwaras where huge numbers of devotees gather on weekends and on auspicious occasions,” the official said, adding that certain organisations which claim to be fighting for community justice and the rights of convicts are collecting large-scale donations in this regard.
Another senior official in the Punjab state administration asserts that the money raised from the diaspora is raised in the name of helping the needy, but the funds are largely being used to “help jailed terrorists, persons acquitted or on bail or parole in various terrorist crimes, family members of terrorists, sleeper cells and other anti-national elements, in an attempt to revive Sikh militancy and support terror and anti-India activities.”
This modus-operandi of financing ex-terrorist and radicals came to the fore when it was found that “operatives had provided money to a militant convicted in the assassination of a senior political leader of Punjab for the construction of his house.”
Of late, crowdfunding through social media has emerged as a preferred tool for terror financing, with operatives using it to fund a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of individuals.
They use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp and telegram to spread their terrorist propaganda and reach out globally to sympathizers, sources in the MHA said, citing a similar modus operandi as in the case of operatives affiliated to LeT and JeM.
Even Youtube is being exploited to stream content and incite people to contribute to their cause, officials monitoring the situation said.
“They are collecting donations by requesting on social media and receiving funds through various money transfer service schemes (MTSS), and banking channels,” sources confirmed.
“Terror operatives are using this as crowd-funding allows them to evade being detected or captured by the law enforcement agencies,” an official said.
While surveillance has been mounted by special teams to monitor the darknet and crypto wallets, the authorities are on alert regarding community television broadcasting in overseas territories. These channels are generating huge amounts of funds by getting sponsorships, and advertisements and are on surveillance on suspicions of diverting these funds for terrorist and radicalization activities, sources said.
NIA chargesheets 2 BTech grads in K’taka IS case
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge sheet on Thursday against two BTech graduates for conspiring to further the activities of the Islamic State by carrying out acts of arson, sabotage and violence in Karnataka.
The two persons Maaz Muneer Ahmed (23) and Syed Yasin (22) of Shivamogga have been charged under sections 120B, 121A and 122 of IPC, 1860, sections 18, 18B, 20 & 38 of UA (P) Act, 1967 and sections 4 (i) & 5 of ES Act, 1908 and section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. The NIA in the charge sheet said that the two committed over 25 incidents of arson and sabotage. According to an NIA spokesperson, both Maaz and Syed were radicalised by an online foreign-based handler.