The killing of Paramjit Singh Panjwar, Pakistan-based chief of Khalistan Commando Force’s (KCF), on May 6, was carried out in a manner similar to the murder of his rival Harmeet Singh “PHD” of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) that took place in Lahore over three years ago.
In the early hours of May 6, accompanied by two armed guards, Panjwar was taking a walk in a park inside Sun Flower Housing Society in Lahore’s Johar Town when the two assailants struck. One of them shot him in the head, fled towards the complex’s entrance gate, and then drove off on a motorcycle along with his accomplice.
On January 27, 2020, the KLF’s Harmeet Singh was also gunned down close to Dera Chahal gurdwara located on the outskirts of Lahore. Indian security agencies suspected that his murder was the fallout of an ongoing rivalry between Pakistan-based pro-Khalistan groups led by him, Khalistan Zindabad Force’s Ranjit Singh Neeta, and Panjwar, for control over drug money.
“Such elements have been involved in the smuggling of drugs and firearms from Pakistan to India. In the past few years, drones are being used to drop the consignments,” an investigating agency official said.
Born on April 21, 1960, Panjwar worked in a central cooperative bank in the Sohal village of Punjab. Radicalised by his cousin Labh Singh, he joined the KCF in 1986. The same group had claimed responsibility for the assassination of General Arun Shridhar Vaidya, Chief of Army Staff during Operation Blue Star, in Pune on August 10, 1986, and threatening to target several others.
After the Indian security forces eliminated his cousin, Panjwar took charge of the outfit around 1990, and escaped to Pakistan via the Rajasthan border in 1996. He started raising funds by smuggling weapons, heroin and fake currency notes into India. Some of his Pakistan-based contacts were identified as Bhola Thathian, Sema Choudhary and the Ghurki brothers. In January 1995, his close accomplice Gurvinder Singh Kala was arrested along with drug smugglers and a huge quantity of contraband in Jammu & Kashmir.
By the end of 2000, Panjwar was in touch with at least half-a-dozen smugglers. His wife, Paljit Kaur, and their two sons, who had also shifted to Pakistan, later took asylum in Germany. Over the years, Panjwar was booked in more than 20 cases related to terror activities, killings, and cross-border smuggling.
Taking cognisance, the Ministry of Home Affairs had on July 1, 2020, declared Panjwar, along with several others, a designated terrorist under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The notification mentioned that he had been broadcasting highly seditious and separatist programmes on Radio Pakistan, with the intention to incite the members of his community against the Indian government.
“He also remained active in smuggling of drugs and is a major conduit between smugglers and terrorists. Panjwar’s complicity in promoting drug trade and fake Indian currency notes operation in Punjab are well documented...Khalistan Commando Force came into existence in February, 1986, with an objective to create Khalistan through violent means/armed struggle. The modus-operandi of this organisation was to commit bank robberies/kidnappings for ransom for use to purchase sophisticated weapons for terrorist activities,” the notification said.
As documented by the Home Ministry, the KCF had killed some top political leaders in October 1988 and triggered an explosion in October of the same year. It killed 10 Rai Sikhs in Firozpur and was also responsible for the killing of Major General B. N. Kumar, then Chairperson of the Bhakra Beas Management Board, and 18 students, in Patiala’s Thappar Engineering College. He also masterminded bomb blasts in 1998 and 1999.
Panjwar’s wife died on September 2022 in Frankfurt. Her body was taken to Pakistan for cremation. “He was present on October 7, 2022 at Nankana Sahib for the immersion of ashes. His elder son, Manvir Singh, was also in Pakistan at that time,” the official said.
