WASHINGTON: US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), now with an Indian-American, Kash Patel, at the helm, Thursday announced that it has arrested alleged Pakistan-backed Khalistani terrorist Harpreet Singh, wanted in India and living illegally in California.
FBI field office in Sacramento, which apprehended him, said Harpreet had entered the US from Mexico and had been evading capture by using untraceable burner phones and encrypted applications. Agents from FBI's legal attache office in New Delhi informed Sacramento that Harpreet was wanted in connection with multiple terror attacks across Punjab, the Bureau said, pointing to close cooperation between the two countries since Patel took charge of the agency.
Harpreet is the alleged mastermind of 15 terror assaults in Punjab and Chandigarh in the last eight months alone, including 12 grenade attacks, many of them on police stations. "This case reinforces the importance of international cooperation in apprehending those who threaten global security," the Bureau said, noting that Harpreet is suspected to have collaborated with Pakistan's ISI and Khalistani terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).
Alleged to be a key operative of BKI, which has historical ties with ISI, Harpreet targeted religious sites and police establishment in Punjab in recent months to revive the Khalistani movement. Indian authorities say he worked closely with Pakistan-based BKI operative Harwinder Singh Sandhu aka Rinda to orchestrate attacks, recruit operatives, and conduct reconnaissance in Punjab.
A photograph released by FBI Sacramento showed a portly Harpreet being held by a female FBI agent and male police officer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Harpreet, also known as Happy Passia or Jora, is said to have homed into Sacramento, a farming area with a large Sikh community, after crossing over illegally from Mexico in 2021, having arrived there from the UK. The district is represented by Indian-American Congresswoman Ami Bera and has several wealthy Sikh farmers with huge tracts of farmland.
A social media account in the name of 'Harpreet Singh Khalistan' placed him living in Fresno, two hours south of Sacramento. which has many Sikh farmers growing tree nuts (almonds, walnuts and pistachio) and stone fruits (peaches, plums and prunes). Some of them are second- and third-generation farmers who are pro-Khalistan despite sketchy ties to India.
Following a series of attacks in Punjab starting 2022, NIA declared him an absconder and offered a Rs 5 lakh reward in Jan 2025 for information leading to his capture. They followed up by filing a chargesheet in March against him and three others (including Rinda) for a grenade attack in Chandigarh, while also alerting US authorities to his presence in California.
FBI field office in Sacramento, which apprehended him, said Harpreet had entered the US from Mexico and had been evading capture by using untraceable burner phones and encrypted applications. Agents from FBI's legal attache office in New Delhi informed Sacramento that Harpreet was wanted in connection with multiple terror attacks across Punjab, the Bureau said, pointing to close cooperation between the two countries since Patel took charge of the agency.
Harpreet is the alleged mastermind of 15 terror assaults in Punjab and Chandigarh in the last eight months alone, including 12 grenade attacks, many of them on police stations. "This case reinforces the importance of international cooperation in apprehending those who threaten global security," the Bureau said, noting that Harpreet is suspected to have collaborated with Pakistan's ISI and Khalistani terrorist group Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).
Alleged to be a key operative of BKI, which has historical ties with ISI, Harpreet targeted religious sites and police establishment in Punjab in recent months to revive the Khalistani movement. Indian authorities say he worked closely with Pakistan-based BKI operative Harwinder Singh Sandhu aka Rinda to orchestrate attacks, recruit operatives, and conduct reconnaissance in Punjab.
A photograph released by FBI Sacramento showed a portly Harpreet being held by a female FBI agent and male police officer from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Harpreet, also known as Happy Passia or Jora, is said to have homed into Sacramento, a farming area with a large Sikh community, after crossing over illegally from Mexico in 2021, having arrived there from the UK. The district is represented by Indian-American Congresswoman Ami Bera and has several wealthy Sikh farmers with huge tracts of farmland.
A social media account in the name of 'Harpreet Singh Khalistan' placed him living in Fresno, two hours south of Sacramento. which has many Sikh farmers growing tree nuts (almonds, walnuts and pistachio) and stone fruits (peaches, plums and prunes). Some of them are second- and third-generation farmers who are pro-Khalistan despite sketchy ties to India.
Following a series of attacks in Punjab starting 2022, NIA declared him an absconder and offered a Rs 5 lakh reward in Jan 2025 for information leading to his capture. They followed up by filing a chargesheet in March against him and three others (including Rinda) for a grenade attack in Chandigarh, while also alerting US authorities to his presence in California.
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