Panjab Police Foil Alleged Plot Targeting Home Minister & Top Leaders

On 23 Apr, on the basis of leaked WhatsApp chats on social media, the Panjab police arrested Balkar Singh of Khanna, a 17-year-old student from Moga, and Lakhdeep Singh of village Sardargarh, Bathinda. Upon checking their messages, the police found a 600-member group linked to jailed Khadoor Sahib Member of Parliament Amritpal Singh. The police alleges that messages on the group plotted killings of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, and Shiromani Akali Dal’s Bikram Singh Majithia after his National Security Act detention was extended. The messages also mentioned foreign funding, arms buys, and support for attackers’ families. The police have filed cases under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (Indian Penal Code), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and Information Technology Act, 2000. Majithia has called for a National Investigation Agency probe and Bittu has warned of return of militancy which Panjab experienced in the 1980s-90s. That same day a joint Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad–Sahibabad police unit captured Khalistan Commando Force fugitive Mangat Singh near Amritsar after three decades at large. Mangat is wanted in a 1993 Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act arms case and will be moved to Ghaziabad for questioning. Meanwhile, On 22 Apr, at the Rouse Avenue Court, New Delhi, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee’s former chief Manjeet Singh GK testified that witness Surender Singh was threatened to recant in the Pul Bangash murders trial of Indian National Congress leader Jagdish Tytler. Also, the Supreme Court of India bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra 2025 reinstated pension benefits for retired Kingsway Camp Station House Officer Durga Prasad—accused of inaction during the 1984 Sikh genocide—on the basis of evidence that Prasad tried to cane charge and aerial fire with limited forces, making harsher punishment unwarranted (earlier coverage).