Bangkok: The 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.
37-year-old Gurmeet Singh entered Thailand in October and was arrested in the eastern province of Chon Buri. Officers also arrested a Pakistani national Ali Alat, 48, the owner of the house. Alat said that he was not aware about Singh’s criminal background.
However, interrogation has revealed that the Pakistani national is a member of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
The Thai authorities were acting on a tip-off from the Punjab Police.
Gurmeet Singh had escaped from a high-security prison in Punjab in 2004. It is possible that he had been travelling since then on a fake passport.
The swift action followed a recent request by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju to Thai authorities to help capture the terrorist. Rijiju made the request when he visited Bangkok late last year for a UN meet.
Beant Singh, who became chief minister of Punjab in 1992, had tried to crush the militancy; he was killed in a blast for which Khalistani terrorists had claimed credit.
