Here's why Pakistan has become 'unsafe' for anti-India terrorists

New Delhi: Shots rang out early morning on Saturday in the vicinity of Sunflower Society in Johar town of Lahore killing Malik Sardar Singh, 63, immediately. His security guard got injured in the shootout, carried out by two men who came on a motorcycle and fled after the killing. 

It could have been a random shootout in Lahore except for the fact that the man known as Malik Sardar Singh in his society was in fact dreaded terrorist Paramjit Singh Panjwar, long wanted by India for his murders, smuggling and robberies in Punjab. 

In every list of wanted men sent by India to Pakistan, Panwar’s name figured prominently but Pakistan always denied his presence on its soil. 

While Panjwar was active in reviving terrorism in Punjab at the behest of the Pakistan intelligence agency ISI, he sent his wife Paljit Kaur and two sons to Germany to live a peaceful life. His wife died in Frankfurt last year and he was seen by Indian intelligence operatives in Nankana Sahib (birthplace of Guru Nanak in Pakistani Punjab) carrying out bhog ceremony for his wife along with elder son Manvir Singh on October 7, 2022. 

Panjwar is not the only anti-India terrorist who has been killed in Pakistan in recent months. 

Before him, this year, Hizbul commander Basheer Ahmed Peer and former Al Badr commander Syed Khalid Raza were gunned down in Rawalpindi and Karachi, respectively. 

In 2021, a bomb attack took place outside the residence of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Sayeed, again in Johar town of Lahore, indicating an attempt on his life. Pakistan cried foul that India was behind the attack but could not explain the presence of heavy security at Hafiz Sayeed’s residence clearly indicating state patronage for the terror fountainhead. 

Panjwar is the latest in the list to be eliminated in Pakistan making it unsafe heaven for anti-India terrorists. 

Panjwar headed Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) and was involved in sending arms and drugs to Punjab in recent years.  

He joined KCF, then headed by Labh Singh, who used to call himself a ‘General’ in 1986 but after the killing of Labh Singh, KCF was divided into many factions and one of the factions was headed by Panjwar. 

On August 10, 1986, former army chief General Arun Sridhar Vaidya was assassinated in Pune by Khalistan Commando Force terrorists Harjinder Singh alias Jinda and Sukhdev Singh alias Sukha. Both of them were caught and sentenced to death. Kinda and Sukha were hanged in 1992. General Vaidya was killed as he headed the army during Operation Blue Star launched to flush out terrorists from Golden Temple in Amritsar. 

Panjwar was also involved in one of the biggest bank robberies of that time in 1987 when he along with then KCF chief Labh Singh robbed the Punjab National Bank’s Millar Ganj branch in Ludhiana looting over Rs 5 crore. But Labh Singh was killed in 1988 by the Punjab police.

As Punjab police started eliminating top terrorists in the 90s, Panjwar fled away to Pakistan.

In 2020, another Khalistani terrorist Harmeet Singh alias “Happy Phd” was also killed in Pakistan. He was leading another Khalistani outfit Khalistan Liberation Force. He was killed near Dera Chahal Gurudwara in Lahore.