The arrest of terrorist leader Happy Pasia in the US, known to be the mastermind behind 16 grenade attacks in Punjab, is being considered a major success for Indian agencies involved in internal security. Harpreet Singh alias Happy Pasia was wanted by several Indian security agencies, including the Punjab Police, since 2020. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for his arrest earlier this year.
He was acting as a close aide of Pakistan-based gangster Harvinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda. He had often claimed responsibility for grenade blasts in Punjab and Chandigarh in the past few months through his social media accounts. The Punjab Police had also named him as an accused in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case. According to media reports, Happy Pasia was taken into custody by the US federal agency ‘FBI’ from California on Thursday.
According to the FBI post, this “arrest took place in Sacramento. Harpreet Singh was responsible for terrorist acts in Punjab, India. He was associated with two international violent groups and had entered the US illegally. According to the information, Harpreet Singh was using burner phones to evade arrest. Harpreet Singh is wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Chandigarh grenade attack case. A blast took place in a house in Sector 10, Chandigarh on September 11, 2024. The police had arrested one of the accused, Rohan Masih, who hurled the grenade in this case.
DGP Gaurav Yadav, while giving information about the attack at that time, had said that Pakistan-based Harvinder Rinda was the mastermind of this grenade attack at the behest of Pakistan’s ISI, who carried it out with the help of US-based Happy Pasia. A chargesheet was filed against four activists of Babbar Khalsa International in this case. According to the information, they had recruited local activists, Rohan Masih and Vishal Masih, who were assigned the task of carrying out the attack under the direct instructions of Rinda and Happy. Rinda and Happy had also instructed the other accused, Rohan Masih and Vishal Masih, to spy on the attack site twice before throwing the grenade. In the chargesheet filed in the special NIA court in Chandigarh, all the four accused have been charged for their roles in planning and abetting the attack under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Explosive Substances Act, and other relevant sections.
In this case, the agency has announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh on Harpreet Singh alias Happy Pasia.
Indian agencies have been calling him an associate of Justice (SFJ) mastermind Gurpatwant Singh Pannu. It has been claimed that Pannu had entrusted Happy Pasia with the responsibility of recruiting ‘non-Sikh poor boys’ to carry out the grenade blast conspiracy. He used to do this work through his goons in Punjab. He reached the UK in 2020 through fake documents. From there, he entered the US in 2021 through the Mexican donkey route. The NIA had sent a detailed dossier about his crimes to the governments of Britain, Canada and the US. The NIA The constituencies of the agency also claim that the cyber experts of this agency had found the exact location of Happy Pasia two and a half months ago. Two days ago, the latest location was found and his tip-off was given to the FBI, which did not delay in taking action on the basis of this tip-off.
Harpreet Singh alias Happy Pasia, a resident of Jattan-Pasia, a village in Ajnala, Punjab. He has studied up to 12th. It is believed that Happy Pasia had planned 16 grenade attacks in Punjab, which created widespread fear. He is also wanted by the police for his alleged role in the murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala.
Charges on Happy Pasia’s mother and sister
Bhupinder Kaur and sister Kirandeep Kaur, the mother of gangster Happy Pasia, who was arrested in the US, were arrested by the Punjab Police on November 26 last year. A case was registered against him at Ramdas police station. On November 24, 2024, gangsters had conspired to blow up Ajnala police station with an IED, but the activists could not technically prepare the IED.
Due to this, the bomb could not explode.
Happy Pasia’s mother and sister were accused, they had given shelter to those who prepared explosives at the behest of Happy. Currently, Happy Pasia’s mother and sister are in jail. After the arrest of his mother and sister, Happy Pasia intensified grenade attacks in Punjab. He used to mislead the youth and give information about preparing IEDs through Google and YouTube. After Happy Pasia’s arrest in America, his house in Amritsar district has been locked. Other members of his family have also gone underground. They fear that the Punjab Police may arrest them.
