The Interpol rejected India’s request to issue a Red Corner Notice on terror charges against Khalistan separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the Indian Express said in a report. This was India’s second request to issue a Red Corner Notice.
The Interpol said that they did not find the Indian authorities having sufficient information to support their case, the Indian Express said.
People privy to the developments told the Indian Express that they were also concerned about the alleged ‘misuse of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)’. The Red Corner notice was sought under the UAPA.
The Indian Express report cited the aforementioned people and said the Interpol did however acknowledge the fact that Pannun is a “high-profile Sikh separatist” and the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) group which he heads calls for an independent Khalistan.
The Interpol despite these acknowledgements concluded that Pannun’s activities have a “clear political dimension” and said due to this he cannot be subject of a Red Corner Notice as per Interpol’s Constitution.
The decision was conveyed to India in August. The evaluation was done by the Commission for the Control of Interpol’s Files following an application filed by Pannun and the subsequent response to that by Indian authorities.
The Interpol commission said the National Central Bureau (NCB) provided ‘insufficient information’ to show the ‘terrorist nature of the crime’ and also Pannun’s ‘possible active and meaningful involvement in terrorist activities’, the Indian Express said.
India filed the request for a Red Corner Notice on May 21, 2021 through the NCB on behalf of the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The SFJ remains banned in India. It was banned in 2019.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannu of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) has been declared a designated terrorist by the Union Home Ministry under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2020
In the submission made by India, an arrest warrant issued against Pannun by a Special NIA Court in Mohali in February last year was cited. It also cited the NIA investigation which alleged that Pannun had a network through which its recruited and radicalised people through as associate identified as Nihal Singh alias Fateh Singh on social media platforms urging them to carry out terrorist acts.
The submission also highlighted that their aims were to destroy businesses and assassinate prominent Indian politicians.
The Interpol, however, pointed out that the Indian application lacked details on alleged links between Pannun and Fateh Singh or other accused in the NIA case; details of alleged international wire transfers and of Pannun’s bank accounts and also details of his involvement in alleged terror acts. India has claimed that the SFJ has received funding from abroad and also set up the Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terror module which the Punjab police and the NIA busted.
The Interpol also pointed out that Pannun has been declared a “terrorist” under the UAPA without a conviction. Pannun is one of the 38 terrorists under the UAPA.
Pannun faces several cases in Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and 22 cases in Punjab itself, some of which were filed against him by the NIA. He has once tried to hoist the Khalistani flag across all the offices of the offices of Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police in Punjab.
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