Chandigarh, November 6: Punjab Police achieved a major success in its focused drive against wanted terrorists with the arrest of top Khalistan Tiger Force terrorist Ramandeep Singh @ Goldy from Chennai airport in the intervening night of 5-6 November 2014. As part of the ongoing exercise of tracking wanted terrorists who are abroad, Ramandeep Singh @ Goldy was traced to Thailand and a two-member police party. Sh. Rajinder Singh Sohal, DSP/Rajpura and Inspector Mandeep Singh of Counter Intelligence camped in Thailand for 03 weeks in September-October 2014 but Goldy managed to slip away to Malaysia. He was further tracked down in Malaysia and, in co-ordination with central agencies and Malaysian authorities brought to Chennai in the wee hours of November 6, 2014 by Punjab Police party headed by Sh. Sohal and arrested at the Chennai airport.
- The arrest of Ramandeep @ Goldy comes close on the heels of the arrest of Rattandeep Singh, the chief of the Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan (BTFK) and former top associate of Paramjit Singh Panjwar and Wadhawa Singh from Gorakhpur, UP by a police party of the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) on September 17, 2014. Rattandeep Singh was based in Pakistan since 1993 and was wanted in numerous cases of bomb blasts. He carried a cash reward of Rs.10 lakhs (not claimed by the Punjab Police as a policy).
- The Counter Intelligence Wing of the Punjab Police has started an exercise of tracking the wanted terrorists who are staying abroad and in this process, intelligence leads about the whereabouts of Ramandeep Singh @ Goldy were received, developed and shared with the central agencies. A two-member police party including Sh. Rajinder Singh Sohal, DSP/Rajpura and Inspector Mandeep Singh of the Counter Intelligence was sent to Thailand where it camped for three weeks from September 19 upto October 11, 2014 for liaison and co-ordination with the Thai authorities and the central agencies. Goldy was successfully traced and tracked in Thailand but managed to slip away to Malaysia. The Punjab Police pursued him and Goldy’s trail was again picked-up and he was located in Malaysia.
- Ramandeep Singh @ Goldy s/o Narpinder Singh r/o Ward No. 10, Mohalla Singhpura, Bassi Pathana did his B.Ed. from Sudhar College, Ludhiana and came into contact with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Darshan Singh r/o Mukaropur, district Fatehgarh Sahib who introduced him to the UK-based top terrorist Paramjit Singh @ Pamma. A terrorist conspiracy to assassinate Rulda Singh, head of the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat, a wing of the RSS was hatched in the UK by Paramjit Singh @ Pamma and executed by Ramandeep Singh @ Goldy in India. Two UK-based persons Gursharan Singh and Piara Singh were assigned the task of “shooters” who had to kill the target, while reccee and masterminding in India was done by Ramandeep Singh @ Goldy, with his associates Darshan Singh and Jagmohan Singh. Rulda Singh was shot at on July 28, 2009 while closing the rear gate of his house after parking his vehicle in the backyard, and, succumbed to his injuries on August 15, 2009 at PGI, Chandigarh. A Case FIR No. 279 dated 29-07-2009 u/s 302/34 IPC, 25 Arms Act, 15/16/17 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was registered in police station Tripuri, district Patiala in this regard.
- Immediately after the attack on Rulda Singh, the terrorist gang separated and scattered to avoid suspicion or detection and Ramandeep Singh @ Goldy escaped to Thailand from where he went to Pakistan and underwent a two-week arms training. He briefly returned to India assuming that the din after Rulda murder has subsided as initially there was no breakthrough. The case was cracked by the Punjab Police in September 2009 and Jagmohan Singh and Darshan Singh were arrested. Raids were conducted to nab Goldy who managed to escape to Nepal. Goldy spent the next one-and-a-half years in Nepal making it his base and also managed to get a forged Nepali passport issued in the assumed name of Sah Barhamdev. Subsequently, Amarjit Singh, Daljit Singh and Gurjant Singh were also arrested in the Rulda murder case.
- During his stay in Nepal, he developed association with Pakistan-trained terrorist Harminder Singh @ Raj in March/April 2010 and the duo roped in Jaswinder Singh, Gurjant Singh and Manjinder Singh to raise a terrorist module which was responsible for two bomb blasts in Patiala and Ambala. The Patiala blast took place on April 20, 2010. Paramjit Singh @ Pamma remained the mentor of Goldy and the link to the Pak-based KTF chief Jagtar Singh Tara. Pamma and Goldy masterminded this explosion. A case FIR No. 159 dated 28-04-2010 u/s 4/5 Explosives Act, 15 Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was registered in police station Kotwali Patiala. The case was successfully worked out by the Punjab Police and Jaswinder Singh, Gurjant Singh and Manjinder Singh were arrested. Two more IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) were recovered on their disclosure. Goldy and Paramjit Singh @ Pamma remained at large.
- After the Patiala bomb blast, Goldy went back to Nepal and planned to gradually shift his base to Thailand and shifted to Thailand in 2011 using the assumed name of Sah Barahmdev and the forged Nepali passport. He worked in a tours and travel agency and had recently set-up an export-import firm styled “Euro 2014 Private Limited” at Bangkok.
- Goldy remained in touch with Pak-based terrorist leaders and the terrorists and radicals based in North America and Europe. He became the lynchpin of all terrorist-related activities in Thailand and provided infrastructural support in South-East Asia to the Punjab terrorists.
- The matter was taken-up with the Nepalese authorities for cancellation of his fake Nepalese passport which has been revoked. He was interdicted by the Punjab Police, central agencies and the Malaysian authorities and deported to India. Sh. Rajinder Singh Sohal, DSP/Rajpura and Sh. Tejinderjit Singh Virk, DSP/Counter Intelligence/Operations were sent to Malaysia for co-ordinating the mechanism of brining back Ramandeep @ Goldy and the two officers brought back fugitive terrorist Ramandeep Singh @ Goldy at Chennai airport by Air India Flight No. 621 at 1.30 am on November 6, 2014. A Punjab Police party alongwith the case files of the Rulda murder and the Patiala bomb blast was stationed at the airport and he was arrested in the intervening night of November 5/6, 2014. The police party alongwith Goldy travelled by air from Chennai to New Delhi and by road from New Delhi to Patiala.
- In recognition of the good work done by the police officers, the Director General of Police, Punjab has awarded the “Director General’s Commendation Disc” to Sh. Rajinder Singh Sohal, DSP/Rajpura, Sh. Tejinderjit Singh Virk, DSP/CI/Operations and Inspector Mandeep Singh of CI. Two Head Constables who played a pivotal role in the entire operation have been promoted to the next higher rank of Assistant Sub Inspector.
- Ramandeep Singh @ Goldy is being produced in the concerned court where police remand for his custodial interrogation will be sought.
Investigations are ongoing.
