Babbar terrorist opposes narco-test over Pakistan links

HOSHIARPUR - Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist Makhan Singh, who is in Punjab Police custody, has strongly opposed the move to get him to undergo a narco analysis test to get information about his links to Pakistan and asserts that he has nothing more to say.

A court here is slated to give its decision Saturday on the state police plea for a narco test.

Makhan, believed to be linked to Pakistan-based Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police on a tip-off by Punjab Police early this month.

“I stayed in Pakistan and took weaponry training from there. I am fully cooperating with Punjab Police. I have already told them about my links and given them all information during the interrogation, so now there is no need of a narco-test. I strongly oppose it and it is also in violation of Supreme Court’s guidelines,” Makhan told IANS in an interview in the district court complex here when he was brought for a hearing.

Makhan and his accomplice Karanbir Singh, another Babbar terrorist, has confessed to killing Sant Pardhan Singh in Hoshiarpur, around 140 km from state capital Chandigarh in January this year. Karanbir is still absconding.

We had killed Sant Pardhan Singh as he had diverted from the principles of Sikhism. His acts were in direct violation of the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib and he was not ready to mend his ways. We cannot tolerate that, Makhan said.

But the Punjab Police have strongly advocated the need for a narco-test on Makhan.

Makhan Singh had stayed in Pakistan for a long time and he has very close links with ISI. After getting training from Pakistan, he also trained terrorists in camps at various places in the neighbouring country, Senior Superintendent of Police (Hoshiarpur) Rakesh Aggarwal told IANS.

He could have vital information about Pakistan’s future strategies to disturb the law and order situation in India. So far, he has not divulged any such information and we want to extract these details through narco-test. This is a very sensitive matter related to the country’s security and we are hopeful that the court will allow us to do this test, he added.

Punjab Police chief P.S. Gill, while talking to the media recently, had admitted that various terrorist outfits are trying to revive terrorism in the state. Besides, over 25 terrorists have been arrested and explosives recovered from various parts of Punjab in the past few months.

A senior Punjab Police official, on the condition of anonymity, told IANS: Makhan Singh was trying to revive activities of BKI in this part of the country. Many cases were registered against him during 1980s for his involvement in various terrorist activities in Punjab. To evade arrest he went to the US in the late 1980s and from there he sneaked into Pakistan.

He came to India by illegally crossing the Punjab border in January 2010. We suspect that he was also active in the smuggling of arms and ammunition from Pakistan to India. Narco-test is essential in this case, he added.