Bhindranwale's Nephew, Khalistani Terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode Passes Away In Pakistan

Khalistani terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode, nephew of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, passed away in Pakistan on December 2, according to reports in the Indian media. He was aged 72.

His last rites were secretly performed in Pakistan as per the Sikh customs, India Today reported.

Who was Lakhbir Singh Rode?
The designated terrorist was the nephew of the slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. He was wanted by the Indian government for anti-India activities.

Singh, a 'listed individual terrorist' under the UAPA, fled to Pakistan around 1996-97. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was investigating six cases against him for his active involvement in terror activities between 2021-2023.

He is alleged to be involved in a broad spectrum of terror-related activities. His criminal record comprises armed assaults on law enforcement, planning and executing IED and bomb explosions, carrying out targeted assassinations of minority community members, engaging in extortion, raising funds for terrorist operations, and spreading fear among the general population.

He has also been chargesheeted by the NIA in terror-related cases.

Just months ago, an NIA court in Mohali had ordered the confiscation of land, in Punjab's Moga district, belonging to Rode, the self-styled chief of the banned Khalistan Liberation Front.

The court ordered the confiscation of land at Kothe Gurupura (Rode) village of Smalsar Police station under section 33(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. Under the section, a judge can confiscate moveable and immoveable property of a proclaimed offender involved in serious crimes.

The order came in a case registered by the NIA on January 1, 2021, under various sections of the UAPA, Indian Penal Code and the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

The proscribed terrorist organisation International Sikh Youth Forum was booked by the Punjab Police initially for his alleged involvement in a tiffin bomb blast case that took place on September 15, 2021 in Jalalabad town of Fazilka district of Punjab.

He was accused of masterminding the whole conspiracy.

The probe indicated that he was working in collusion with his Pakistan-based 'masters' and that he had played a key role in sending consignments of terrorist hardware, including arms, ammunition, custom-made tiffin bombs, grenades, explosives as well as drugs, to carry out terrorist acts, particularly bomb blasts, to instil fear and terror among the people of Punjab.