<p>Thai police have arrested a fugitive Sikh terrorist who was involved in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and several others in 1995.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Thai National police spokesman Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri said 37-year-old Gurmeet Singh entered Thailand in October and was arrested in the eastern province of Chon Buri yesterday.<br /><br />A team of Chon Buri provincial police and soldiers raided a house on Soi Mabyailia in tambon Nong Phreu in Bang Lamung district and arrested Singh, one of six Sikh militants convicted for the 1995 blast which also killed several others.<br /><br />Officers also arrested Pakistani national Ali Alat, 48, the owner of the house. Alat said that he was not aware about Singh's criminal background.<br /><br />The two men were taken to Nong Phreu police station for interrogation.<br />"We had been following him for a while, but at one point he slipped off the radar," Prawut said.<br /><br />Sources here told PTI that Singh could have been travelling on a fake passport as the police said the "Pakistani" terrorist faces extradition to India.<br /><br />Singh escaped from a high-security prison in 2004.<br />The swift action followed a recent request by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju to Thai authorities to help capture the terrorist. <br /><br />Rijiju made the request when he visited Bangkok late last year for a UN meet.<br /><br />Last week the national police chief had announced that a special unit would be set up to target transnational criminal gangs operating in Thailand or using the country as a shelter.<br /><br />Some foreign criminals and gangs consider Thailand to be a haven, including paedophiles, financial con men, electronic card skimmers, robbers, drug traffickers and terrorists.<br /><br />Pol Maj Gen Nitipong Niamnoi, head of Chon Buri police, said Indian authorities had sought cooperation from Thailand, to help apprehend the suspect.<br /><br />The Indian government had been in touch with Thai authorities to nab Jagtar "Tara" Singh, who had been hiding in Thailand for months and probably under another identity.<br /><br />Beant Singh, who came to power as chief minister in 1992 and began crushing the Sikh militancy, was killed in the blast in 1995 claimed by the Khalistani Sikh terrorists.</p>
<p>Thai police have arrested a fugitive Sikh terrorist who was involved in the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and several others in 1995.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Thai National police spokesman Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri said 37-year-old Gurmeet Singh entered Thailand in October and was arrested in the eastern province of Chon Buri yesterday.<br /><br />A team of Chon Buri provincial police and soldiers raided a house on Soi Mabyailia in tambon Nong Phreu in Bang Lamung district and arrested Singh, one of six Sikh militants convicted for the 1995 blast which also killed several others.<br /><br />Officers also arrested Pakistani national Ali Alat, 48, the owner of the house. Alat said that he was not aware about Singh's criminal background.<br /><br />The two men were taken to Nong Phreu police station for interrogation.<br />"We had been following him for a while, but at one point he slipped off the radar," Prawut said.<br /><br />Sources here told PTI that Singh could have been travelling on a fake passport as the police said the "Pakistani" terrorist faces extradition to India.<br /><br />Singh escaped from a high-security prison in 2004.<br />The swift action followed a recent request by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju to Thai authorities to help capture the terrorist. <br /><br />Rijiju made the request when he visited Bangkok late last year for a UN meet.<br /><br />Last week the national police chief had announced that a special unit would be set up to target transnational criminal gangs operating in Thailand or using the country as a shelter.<br /><br />Some foreign criminals and gangs consider Thailand to be a haven, including paedophiles, financial con men, electronic card skimmers, robbers, drug traffickers and terrorists.<br /><br />Pol Maj Gen Nitipong Niamnoi, head of Chon Buri police, said Indian authorities had sought cooperation from Thailand, to help apprehend the suspect.<br /><br />The Indian government had been in touch with Thai authorities to nab Jagtar "Tara" Singh, who had been hiding in Thailand for months and probably under another identity.<br /><br />Beant Singh, who came to power as chief minister in 1992 and began crushing the Sikh militancy, was killed in the blast in 1995 claimed by the Khalistani Sikh terrorists.</p>