The ISI’s dangerous Punjab game: Hiring youths for Rs 20,000 to carry out terror attacks

AMRITSAR: An extremely dangerous game by the ISI is unfolding in Punjab, which has left the agencies concerned. There has been a wave of attacks since February, and the agencies see a clear pattern emerging.

Overseeing these operations is a Pakistan-based gangster who goes by the name Shezad Bhatti. While attacks are being claimed by the Khalistan Liberation Army (KLA), officials say that it is Bhatti who has been coordinating with local gangsters to recruit locals to carry out these attacks.

Preliminary investigations suggest that not all the youth involved in such attacks are radicalised. There are a good number of youth who have been hired and then paid Rs 20,000 per attack. The gangster network, which is behind these recruitments, has often taken advantage of the financial condition of these youth. Some are drug addicts, and they are ready to carry out attacks for a sum of Rs 20,000, an official added.

For the Punjab Police, it has been a cat-and-mouse game. The Punjab Police and the central agencies have been relentless when it comes to busting modules. The police busted two Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) modules in Punjab on April 9 and 16. These modules were operating out of Amritsar and Gurdaspur, and following the bust, the police recovered grenades, IEDs and other material relating to the preparation of the bombs.