New Delhi/Islamabad: Wanted Khalistani terrorist Paramjit Singh Panjwar was shot dead by unidentified assailants in a drive-by shooting in Lahore’s Nawab Town neighbourhood on Saturday. Panjwar, 63, chief of the Khalistan Commando Force-Panjwar group, received a fatal gunshot to the head, police said.
When the attack happened, Panjwar was on a morning walk at around 6:30am, accompanied by his bodyguard near his residence in the Sunflower Housing Society, police said, Dawn reported.
Panjwar received a fatal gunshot to the head. His bodyguard was also wounded in the attack and shifted to hospital, where his condition was said to be critical. The assailants fled the scene after the attack.
Police rushed to the site and cordoned off the area to collect evidence. The police also issued a high alert to intensify patrolling and snap-checking to round up the suspects.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
The police official said it would be premature to say anything about the motive behind Panjwar’s killing and teams were working on all possible leads.
Panjwar’s body was shifted to the city morgue for autopsy and police experts were trying to get access to CCTV footage of the crime scene to get more details about the suspects, Dawn said.
He was wanted in India for the murder of Maj Gen BN Kumar (retd), the then Chairman of Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), in Chandigarh in 1988; the killing of 19 students at Thapar Engineering College in Patiala in 1989; and the kidnapping and murder of Rajan Bains, son of then SSP Batala Gobind Ram in 1989.
Panjwar was wanted in India for a bomb blast in Sector 34 of Chandigarh in 1999 and many other cases of murder and kidnappings during the era of militancy in Punjab in the mid-eighties. He escaped to Germany and later shifted to Pakistan in 1990. His wife and children lived in Germany. His wife is reported to have died some years ago.
He was designated as a terrorist by India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020.
Panjwar was reported to be involved in drug and weapons smuggling via drones into Punjab in India.
According to reports, he was living in Pakistan under the fake identity of Malik Sardara Singh.
He was a resident of village Panjwar in Tarn Taran district.
Pakistan has always denied his presence.
Panjwar joined the Khalistan Commando Force in 1986, after being influenced by his cousin and Labh Singh. Before that he worked at the Central Cooperative Bank in Sohal as peon-cum-clerk. (UNI)
