- Tuesday, February 25, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The International Criminal Police Organisation, which is commonly called ‘Interpol’ has refused a request made by India for a red Corner Notice on terror charges against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Khalistan separatist, NDTV reported citing sources.
The country’s elite Central Bureau of Investigation had submitted inputs that were sourced from Indian agencies but the Interpol reportedly raised queries and returned the request.
According to sources in the Indian government, the Interpol did not flag any “misuse” of the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of UAPA, as some news reports said, as the global anti-crime body doesn’t make such remarks, the NDTV report added.
According to some reports, the UAPA has been slammed for being “misused” to target minority groups and rights activists.
Pannun, the Canada-based founder and legal advisor of pro-Khalistan group Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) was named as the main accused in May in connection with the appearance of ‘Khalistan’ banners and graffiti on the walls of the assembly building in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh in Dharamshala.
The SJF was banned by the Indian government in 2019 for anti-national activities.
In January, the National Investigation Agency announced a bounty of Rs 10 lakh in cash for those providing information about Jaswinder Singh Multani, a SFJ operative who is wanted for hatching conspiracy with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence operatives to carry out terror attacks in several parts of India.
Multani, who is a close associate of Pannun, came under the scanner for arranging and sending weapons, including explosives, from across the border in the northern state of Punjab, the report added. He had allegedly planned to carry out terror activities in the state with the smuggled consignments.
