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Amritsar, Punjab (KP) - From the early eighties to the present, the Sikh freedom fighters have been betrayed by individuals who they believed to be their very own. During those two decades, it became common knowledge that the Punjab Police had actively recruited petty criminals such as Ajit Poohla, and Gurmeet ‘Pinky’ to do their dirty work. Now, official details are emerging of a covert program that ‘converted’ certain individuals amongst the freedom fighters themselves into police ‘cats’ in order to eliminate from within. In the past such claims have always been debunked by government officials.

Enter, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi alias Harjit Singh Kahlon. He alleges to be an ex-member of the Khalistan Liberation Force and was proclaimed dead in an encounter by the Punjab Police nearly 14 years ago. Now he has been found to be alive and well. It was discovered that Sukhwinder Singh was living in the Punjab city of Jalandhar under his new alias and running a business.

Sukhwinder Singh joined the ranks of the Sikh freedom fighters in the early eighties and was arrested several times by the Indian Security Forces. Ultimately, he decided to work for the Indian authorities instead of the Sikh cause. After being won over by the Punjab Police and wanting to join the ‘mainstream’, he began actively taking part in operations to eliminate former fellow Sikh freedom fighters. He is alleged to have provided the Indian Security Forces information on the fighters' whereabouts, location of weapons storage sites and inside information on their organization’s structure and workings.

In order to protect such a valuable asset, the Indian Security Forces decided to have it announced that Sukhi was killed in a police encounter. His ‘death’ would make it easier for him to work with the government forces under his new identity. With a new life, Sukhi began enjoying the direct patronage of the Director-General of Punjab Police. He initially lived in Delhi, from where he routinely made trips to Punjab to deliver information and tips to the Punjab Police about his ex-associates.

In a news conference held by S.S Virk, the Punjab DGP along with K.P Gill, disclosed that there were many more militants turned police informers like Sukhi. At least 300 more were from Punjab alone. DGP Virk also went on to say that after encounters with militants, the Police had to cremate many unidentified bodies and one of these unidentified bodies was falsely said to be that of Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi. He further stated that the police could not just go by the rulebooks, but was compelled to resort to these methods due to circumstances. His former boss, the notorious, KP Gill, who is seen by the Sikh masses as a mass murder of the innocent, proclaimed that there was no mention of the word terrorism in the Indian constitution so there were no laws on dealing with such a situation. Therefore, any and every method was justified.

Sukhwinder Singh Sukhi has claimed that he is currently aligned with the Shiromani Khalsa Dal headed by Daljit Singh Bittu and works for the magazine ‘Sikh Shahdat’. Bittu, another ex-militant, whose prision life sentence was msteriously commuted, has also raised suspicions in Panthic circles to have been also won over by governmental agencies.


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