On Saturday (May 22), the Punjab police apprehended two Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) terrorists involved in firing at a priest and murdering a follower of Dera Sacha Sauda. The accused, identified as one Ram Singh (Sonu) and Lovepreet Singh (Ravi), were arrested from the Moga district from behind a senior secondary school.
The duo was working at the behest of the Canada-based KTF chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The cops had recovered 0.32 bore pistols with 28 live cartridges and one 0.315 bore pistol with 10 live cartridges and two magazines. With their arrest, the Punjab police foiled their plan to murder another Dera Sacha Sauda follower allegedly involved in the sacrilege of the Sikh holy book ‘Guru Granth Sahib.’
On November 20 last year, Sonu and one Kamal had murdered Dera Sacha Sauda follower Manohar Lal in Bhagta Bhaika in Bathinda district. They had also fired at a priest named Kamaldeep Sharma in Bhar Singh Pura village in Phillaur on January 31, 2021. During the firing incident, the priest sustained three bullet injuries and was gravely injured. Sonu and Ravi, who are now arrested, also tried to murder Sharma Sweets’ owner in Moga district.
Kamal, Ravi, and one Arshdeep had also murdered their own aide Sukha Lamme through poisoning on June 27 last year in the Dala village. On Sunday, Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta informed that 3 KTF terrorists namely Arshdeep, Ramandip, and Charanjit were hiding in Surrey in Canada. While Ravi and Sonu had been arrested, Kamal is still on the run from the law enforcement authorities.
India Today, Hindustan Times and Tribune India attempt to whitewash the terrorists
Despite the severity of their crimes and the terrorist links of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), several news publications attempted to trivialise the criminals and their association with the separatist terrorist organisation. One of the publications was that of India Today, Instead of referring to the two accused as terrorists or even extremists, they labelled the duo as ‘activists’.
Another news publication, which pulled off a similar stunt to water down the severity of their crimes was Hindustan Times. Following the footsteps of India Today, it too labelled the two terrorists as ‘activists.’
Tribune India too downplayed the arrest of Ravi and Sonu by referring to them as KTF ‘activists’ and ‘members’.
KTF and the terror activities of its chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar
It must be mentioned that the KTF chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar had migrated to Canada in 1995-1996 and now lives in Vancouver. He was among the names that Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh had provided to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau during his visit in 2018. Reportedly, Nijjar has been involved in several terrorist acts in India including bomb blasts. He has been actively involved in recruiting and training pro-Khalistani terrorists.
Nijjar became the head of KTF after former chief Jagtar Singh Tara was arrested in connection to the assassination of former Punjab CM Beant Singh case. Nijjar was mentored by Tara during his visit to Pakistan in April 2012. It must be mentioned that a red corner notice was issued against him in 2014 for ‘raising terrorist modules’. Nijjar has also been put on the ‘No Fly list’ by Canadian authorities. Despite Sonu and Ravi working with the terrorist outfit, mainstream media publications chose to refer to them as KTF ‘activists’.