PETALING JAYA, Nov 7 — The hunt for Indian terrorist Jagtar Singh Tara has intensified with the arrest of one of his trusted lieutenants in Johor Baru on October 24.
The arrested man, aged 36, entered the country using a fake Nepali passport on September 27 on a one-month visa.
A police source said he was believed to have been with Jagtar, the leader of the Khalistan Tiger Force, in Bangkok earlier this year.
“Jagtar knew that police were closing in on them and decided that he and his commander should split up to avoid being detected. He arranged for the suspect to enter Laos,” the source said.
From Laos, the suspect was believed to have travelled to Malaysia and had planned to enter Singapore.
“A team from the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division arrested him in Johor Baru. The suspect was about to enter Singapore as his visa had expired,” the source said.
The suspect is linked to the assassination of Rulda Singh, the former president of Rashtariya Sikh Sangat, in July 2009, and for a series of bombing incidents in Punjab in 2010.
The source said the suspect was not planning anything here and was only using Malaysia as a hideout and transit point.
The source said Jagtar’s exact whereabouts were unknown although he was believed to be still in Bangkok.
“There is a chance that Jagtar might make his way to Malaysia as intelligence reports suggest he is trying to go back to Pakistan to reunite with other members of the Khalistan Tiger Force,” the source said.
