Intelligence agencies assess renewed efforts to destabilise Punjab through tactical escalation

In New Delhi, intelligence agencies suspect a proxy terror role in the killing of two Punjab Police personnel at a border outpost in Gurdaspur. A little-known group claimed responsibility, amid concerns of renewed attempts to destabilise Punjab through cross-border and Khalistan-linked operations

New Delhi: A little known group called the Tehreek-e-Taliban Hindustan (TTH) has claimed responsibility for the recent killing of police personnel at a border outpost in Punjab. This has led Intelligence agencies to believe that there are renewed efforts to destabilise Punjab through tactical escalation.

Two personnel of the Punjab Police who were on duty near the India-Pakistan border were found dead with bullet injuries on February 22. Gurnam Singh and Ashok Kumar, an Assistant Sub-Inspector and Home Guard respectively were on duty at the border outpost in Gurdaspur, Punjab when the incident took place.

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While the investigation is still ongoing and the agencies are trying to get to the bottom of the case, the TTH claimed responsibility for the attack. This has complicated the probe as the TTH is not a known entity. The name of the outfit sounds like it is connected to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

An Intelligence Bureau official said that there is nothing to show that the TTP and TTH are linked. This is clearly an operation that has been undertaken to target the Indian security agencies. Looking the current relations between the ISI and TTP, it is unlikely that Pakistan could have directed such an attack through the TTP or its proxy.

The officer said that these killings come at a time when the ISI has become desperate to re-launch the Khalistan movement in India. The Khalistan terror groups are under pressure to strike in Punjab and revive the movement. On the other hand, India and Canada and to a large extent the United Kingdom (UK) are working together to wipe out the Khalistani cause. Over the years, both the UK and Canada have been soft on these elements operating on their soil.

However the scenario has changed and both nations have agreed to work with India and end the menace. All these factors have not just put pressure on the ISI-backed Khalistan groups, but has also managed to increase the heat on them. An official said that the so-called TTH is just a proxy of a Pakistan terror group.

A Khalistan linked group may have carried out the Gurdaspur attack. The Punjab Police have rejected that the TTH carried out the attack. The police say that all angles are being probed which include smuggling links, cross-border terror involvement and personal enmity also.

The Intelligence agencies say that the ISI has become desperate to revive the Khalistan movement in Punjab. It would use all tools at its disposal to try and disrupt normalcy in Punjab.

Officials say that there is a pattern that has been emerging. The killings at Gurdaspur are not an isolated incident. Several incidents in which police stations, personnel and security establishments have been targeted were reported in recent months.

Explosive devices have been used in attacks at police stations and outposts in Ajnala, Nawanshahr, Majitha, Batala, Amritsar, and Gurdaspur. The ISI has been using the service of international drug syndicates, foreign based handlers and gangsters to disturb peace in Punjab. The recent Gurdaspur operation could also be the handiwork of the gangster-terror nexus.

Several cases relating to this nexus are under probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). In a bid to take the heat off the Khalistani terror groups and also the gangster-terror nexus, the ISI is creating groups such as the TTH. This helps in diverting attention, an official said. The attack at Gurdaspur appears to be thoroughly planned. The post is typically manned by two local police personnel and two from the Border Security Force (BSF).

The BSF personnel on the day of the attack were absent due to a departmental function near Amritsar. The killers were aware of this and also that the post did not have CCTV coverage. The Intelligence agencies warn that the ISI would look to step up its operations and continue to target security personnel.

Pakistani agencies have also refined their drone operations and have been sending in sophisticated ones to drop arms and ammunition along with narcotics into Punjab. The frequency of the drones coming in is likely to go up as the ISI wants to hurry through its plan of reviving the Khalistan movement in a very big way, another official said.