Khalistan militant arrested in city

A Punjab police team, aided by the city’s Central Crime Branch (CCB) police, on Thursday arrested a Khalistan militant hiding here for the past few months.

The police took 38-year-old Jarnail Singh Sidu back to Punjab for further investigation. Sidu is a resident of Mohali and a native of Hyderabad. He was residing in a paying guest accommodation in the Sampigehalli police station limits and was working as a computer operator in a private firm in Manyata Tech Park.

The police said Punjab’s State Special Operation Cell had registered a case against Sidu in March 2019. Upon learning that the police were on to him, Sidu escaped from Mohali six months ago and came to Bengaluru.

He then took accommodation in a PG dwelling and joined the private firm. He was in contact with Khalistan militants in Punjab.

Receiving information that Sidu is residing in Bengaluru, the police team arrived here last week and arrested him from the PG accommodation with the CCB’s help.

While in college in his native Hyderabad, Sidu got in touch with Khalistan militants and joined them. “He was one of the militants involved in the Khalistan movement to advocate for a separate Sikh nation and was constantly in touch with the group suspected to have been involved in terrorist attacks in Punjab,” said a senior official.