Image showing arrested BKI terrorist Lajar Masih.
Credit: X/@uppstf
Lucknow: The "active terrorist" of Babbar Khalsa International, who was arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, was in contact with a Delhi-based gang for a fake passport to flee abroad, a senior police officer said on Friday.
Lajar Masih, who had "links" with Pakistan's ISI and planned a major terror attack during the Maha Kumbh, was nabbed in a joint operation by Uttar Pradesh STF and Punjab Police on Thursday.
Speaking to reporters here, Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order and STF) said Masih had changed his address from Amritsar to Chander Nagar, Ghaziabad in the Aadhaar card on the basis of a fake address certificate issued by a medical officer in Punjab’s Gurdaspur.
Using the forged Aadhaar Card that he got on December 16, Masih got a new SIM card, he said.
Giving details on how Masih was planning to flee abroad, ADG Yash said he had contacted a gang in Delhi to get a fake passport.
The passport form was also filled from Ghaziabad and the date of appointment was fixed at the passport office in January. However, he could not reach Ghaziabad from Punjab on the said date.
Masih told that a broker had demanded Rs 15 lakh for the fake passport and he had given Rs 2.5 lakh, the senior officer said.
On Thursday, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar said Masih had planned a major terrorist attack during the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj. However, due to intensive security checks there, he failed to execute his plan.
"Following the failed attempt, Masih had intended to flee India using a fake passport and take refuge in Portugal,” he said.
DGP Kumar had said that the arrest of this terrorist of Babbar Khalsa International has also confirmed the smuggling of weapons and drugs from Pakistan to India.
He said that Masih was in contact with three ISI agents in Pakistan and he had previously been jailed in the case of smuggling of weapons and heroin, but escaped on 24 September 2024 during treatment at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar.
After escaping, he opened fire on October 23, 2024 at the behest of Swarn Singh alias Jeevan Fauji in Batala, Punjab, after which he remained hidden in Sonipat and Delhi, he said.
Kumar said Masih had been supplying grenades through coded signals to BKI members involved in attacks on police posts in Punjab and was also in touch with Viresh Singh alias Ravi, a terrorist killed in Pilibhit.
According to the Uttar Pradesh police, Masih was in constant touch with an Ajnala-based man linked to a US-based Khalistani terrorist and another terrorist hiding in Qatar.
DGP Kumar said, "Masih was using his drug and extortion gang from Punjab to fund terror activities. He got in touch with ISI men through a fellow inmate in Muktsar jail. The prisoner put him in touch with people who smuggle weapons and drugs across the border using drones."