Harpreet Bajwa By

CHANDIGARH: Investigations after the arrest of Sikh militant Jagtar Singh alias Tara, the assassin of former Punjab CM Beant Singh, have revealed that the militants in collusion with Pakistan’s ISI are setting up bases in Southeast Asian countries and trying to recruit youth from the State to be trained at these terror camps.

Four Sikh militants have been arrested from Thailand and Malaysia in the last couple of months. Sources said the intelligence wing of the State police questioned over a dozen people in Punjab after Tara’s arrest in Thailand. They received inputs from Central intelligence agencies that Tara was in touch with these youth and was trying to lure them to Thailand on the pretext of getting them jobs. “The youth said they were being contacted by some individuals in Thailand,” said a senior intelligence officer.

Though Tara had details of the youth he was recruiting, they claimed to know nothing about him, said a source. It is believed that he had started the process of forging fake documents for them. While the youth’s identity and details of those they were to meet in Thailand have not been revealed, they had been told that their prospective employers would be paying their travel costs, said a source. Another source said Tara had earlier evaded arrest when police arrested his aide, Ramandeep Singh alias Goldy, from Malaysia in November last. Tara and Goldy were planning terror attacks in Punjab.

Interrogation of Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF) chief Harminder Singh alias Mintoo and his operative Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, who were deported from Thailand in November, also revealed the ISI’s plan to recruit and train Punjabi youth in countries such as Thailand and Malaysia.