NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Neena Chaudhary in Amritsar
The Punjab police on Wednesday arrested dreaded terrorist Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, a close associate of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Zaffarwal headed the Khalistan Commando Force and was instrumental in sowing the seeds of militancy in Punjab before he fled to Pakistan and from there to Switzerland.
Zaffarwal's arrest was announced by the Inspector General of Police (border Range) A P Pandey at a press conference on Thursday.
On the request of the journalists, Zaffarwal was allowed to make a brief appearance at the press conference. He claimed that he was never involved in any killings and neither had he approached any political leader with an offer to surrender. He also denied differences with other terrorist outfits and ducked all questions about his position on a separate homeland for Sikhs.
Pandey said Zaffarwal was on his way to meet his family when he was arrested. He said Zaffarwal reached India on March 9 by a Tazakistan Airlines plane under a false identity.
Zaffarwal, a class-IV employee of a mill at Dhariwal in Gurdaspur, was first detained in 1980.
Subsequently, he formed the Khalistan Commando Force and commanded as many as 300 terrorists. The KCF, at one point of time, had 25 sub-groups spread all over northern India.
Zaffarwal was a part of the Panthic Committee, which on April 29, 1986 gave a call for the creation of Khalistan from the Golden Temple complex.
In 1995, following differences with the ISI, he moved to Switzerland and got into hospitality business. Most of his operatives were either killed by the police or they joined other outfits.
Reacting to his arrest, Zaffarwal's father Surjit Singh and wife Darshan Kaur told this correspondent that they were pleased to learn that he was back in India. They said since he was not directly involved in any killings, he should be released.
But those who lost their near and dear ones in the militancy want the law to take its course.
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
