Pavittar Singh Batala, a gangster from Punjab who is on the most wanted list of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), has been arrested along with seven other Khalistani terrorists by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US in a gang-related kidnapping case.
The arrests of the Punjab-origin terrorists were confirmed by San Joaquin County’s sheriff’s office in a post on X on July 12. Apart from Batala, those arrested were Dilpreet Singh, Arshpreet Singh, Amritpal Singh, Vishal (no name given), Gurtaj Singh, Manpreet Randhawa and Sarabjit Singh.
Batala is reportedly associated with the banned Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and is wanted in India for his alleged involvement in terror activities. The arrests were made on July 11 from different parts of the US in the case of kidnapping and torture in San Joaquin County, according to the sheriff’s office. US police officials said the arrests were made on the basis of five coordinated search warrants. They said each suspect was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on various felony charges, including kidnapping, torture, false imprisonment, conspiracy to commit a crime, preventing and dissuading a witness, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, threats to terrorise and felony gang enhancement.
During the operation, the police seized five handguns (including a fully automatic Glock), one assault rifle, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, high-capacity magazines and over $15,000 in cash. As a result, weapons-related charges were also slapped, including possession of a machine gun, illegal possession of an assault weapon, manufacture or sale of high-capacity magazines, manufacturing a short-barreled rifle, and carrying a loaded and unregistered handgun.
“This takedown was part of the FBI’s ‘Summer Heat’ initiative, a nationwide effort targeting violent offenders and gang members who terrorise our communities. ‘Summer Heat’ reflects Director Kash Patel’s commitment to the American people to crush crime and restore safety in neighbourhoods across the country,” the post read.
The Tribune