Nabha jailbreak: 5 facts about Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Mintoo

Separatist Khalistan Liberation Force terrorist Harminder Mintoo was today arrested in Delhi, just a day after he was broken out of the high-security Nabha Jail in Punjab's Patiala district.

Who is Harminder Mintoo? Here are some facts about the man who was wanted in 10 terror-related cases, when he was first arrested in 2014.

1.Khalistan Liberation Force chief

Harminder Mintoo was born in Punjab's Jalandhar district in 1967. He's the chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), a terrorist organisation that was first formed in 1986. The KLH wants a separate homeland for Sikhs. Mintoo took over the KLF in 2009, after defecting from its parent group, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

2.Base in Thailand

The terrorist made Thailand his base, and also travelled to Cambodia, Laos and Burma. He frequently travelled to Pakistan to be trained by its intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence.

3.Arrested in 2014

Mintoo was arrested in November 2014 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, upon his return from Thailand. He'd been using a fake Malaysian passport - with the name Gurdeep Singh, and the number A22967012. He also had a a fake Malaysian I-card, with the number 610320086949.

4.Wanted in 10-terror related cases

At the time, the KLF man was wanted in 10 terror-related cases. He plotted the 2008 attack on Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Raheem Singh, and planted Improvised Explosive Devices at Halwara Air Force station near Ludhiana in 2010.

5.Tasked by ISI to carry out attacks on Independence Day

Mintoo was tasked by the ISI with carrying out an attack on Independence Day in Punjab, the then-Punjab Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini said after his capture. DGP Saini added that Minto planned to kill three Shiv Sena leaders, and that his attempts to do so were foiled.


Source:-timesofindia

Snowden calls for whistleblower shield after claims by new Pentagon source

Edward Snowden has called for a complete overhaul of US whistleblower protections after a new source from deep inside the Pentagon came forward with a startling account of how the system became a “trap” for those seeking to expose wrongdoing.

The account of John Crane, a former senior Pentagon investigator, appears to undermine Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other major establishment figures who argue that there were established routes for Snowden other than leaking to the media.

Crane, a longtime assistant inspector general at the Pentagon, has accused his old office of retaliating against a major surveillance whistleblower, Thomas Drake, in an episode that helps explain Snowden’s 2013 National Security Agency disclosures. Not only did Pentagon officials provide Drake’s name to criminal investigators, Crane told the Guardian, they destroyed documents relevant to his defence.

Snowden, responding to Crane’s revelations, said he had tried to raise his concerns with colleagues, supervisors and lawyers and been told by all of them: “You’re playing with fire.”

Source: http://www.theguardian.com