Lakhbir Singh Rode, Pak-based chief of banned Khalistan Liberation Force, is dead
Pakistan’s go-getter man for anti-India operations and Khalistani terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode died in Pakistan on Monday. He was 72.
Self-styled head of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) and nephew of slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, Lakhbir Singh was listed as an ‘individual terrorist’ under the UA(P)A and had fled to Pakistan.
According to various media reports, Lakhbir Singh’s brother and former Akal Takht Jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode has confirmed his death in Pakistan. He said his brother had already been cremated in Pakistan on Monday.
Recently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in Mohali ordered the confiscation of land belonging to the designated terrorist in Punjab’s Moga district.
The land is at Kothe Gurupura village near Smalsar in Baghapurana tehsil of Moga district.
The court ordered the confiscation of the land under Section 33(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, under which a judge can confiscate moveable and immovable property of a proclaimed offender involved in serious crimes.
The order was related to the case registered by the NIA on October 1, 2021, under the Explosive Substances Act, UAPA, NDPS Act and the IPC. Originally, the FIR was registered on September 16, 2021, under the Explosive Substances Act at Jalalabad police station in a case involving a tiffin bomb blast. The explosion occurred near Punjab National Bank at Jalalabad in Fazilka district at 7.57pm on September 15, 2021.
ISYF was founded in 1984 and is quite active in Canada and the UK, with its head Rode settled in Lahore.
According to the US State Department, ISYF was an active terrorist group organization. ISYF also has linkages with Islamist militant groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). ISYF was banned under the Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act (POTA) on March 22, 2002. Besides being banned in India, the group was banned in the UK in 2001. Following the ban in UK, the group changed its name to Sikh Federation-UK (SFUK).
Rode worked closely with ISI to disrupt peace in Punjab and all tiffin bomb modules busted in the past couple of years by the Punjab Police were his handiwork.
Rode was the main conspirator of the Ludhiana Court blast of 2021. Rode’s nephew and son of former Akal Takht Jatehedar Jasbir Singh Rode was also arrested by Punjab Police in connection with the recovery of RDX and tiffin bomb.
The killing of Shaurya Chakra awardee Comrade Balwinder Singh, a well-known face of Tarn Taran during the fight against terrorism, was executed on Rode’s directions in 2020. Canada-based gangster-turned-terrorist Arsh Dalla has been the go-getter man of Rode.
In February this year, the state special operation cell (SSOC) of the Punjab Police booked nine persons, including Pakistan-based International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) chief Lakhbir Singh Rode, for smuggling arms, ammunition, drugs and explosives using drones from across the border.
Who was Khalistani terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode?
Khalistani separatist leader Lakhbir Singh Rode died in Pakistan, confirmed his brother Jasbir Singh Rode. The 72-year-old self-styled chief of the banned outfits Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and International Sikh Youth Federation had been running his operations from Pakistan for several years.
Lakhbir Singh Rode was the nephew of slain Khalistani terrorist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, who was killed by Indian security forces inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar during Operation Blue Star, ordered by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Lakhbir Singh Rode has been listed as a terrorist by the Indian government under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. He had initially fled the country to reside in Dubai, and later moved to Pakistan.
Rode had been running the banned outfit KLF from Pakistan for several years, and was suspected of running his operations from Lahore. Here is all you need to know about Lakhbir Singh Rode.
Lakhbir Singh Rode: 5 points about the Khalistani leader
- Lakhbir Singh Rode was the chief of KLF, a banned outfit in India. He was also the primary organiser of Khalistan Zindabad Force cell near the India-Nepal border, responsible for creating disturbances.
- Rode had confessed several times that he had been working closely with the Pakistani government to launch attacks against India. He was arrested with 20 kg of RDX and said that it was given to him by a councillor in the Pakistani Embassy in Kathmandu.
- Lakhbir Singh was named as the mastermind of the Air India 182 bombing on 23 June 1985 during a confession by militant Talwinder Singh Parmar to the Punjab police. However, this claim is not yet proven.
- According to the Indian government’s dossier on Lakhbir Singh, he is responsible for smuggling and supplying arms and explosives to Punjab across the border to target VVIPs across India.
- Lakhbir Singh’s son Bhaggu Brar is currently living in Canada, and has been accused of carrying out terrorist activities in Punjab. He used to regularly travel to Pakistan to provide arms and funds to his father. He has also been accused of promoting anti-India activities in Canada.
