'Rinda funded terror ops with extortion money'

Harvinder Singh Rinda the Khalistani terrorist whose name cropped up following the terror attack in Mohali city of Punjab ran extortion racket in Nanded for years and is believed to have used the money to fund terror activitiesRinda who is believed to be operating from Pakistan is also suspected to have supplied explosives to four suspects arrested recently from Karnal city of HaryanaThe AntiTerrorism Squad of Maharashtra suspects that various members of Rindas sleeper cell is active in the state especially in the Nanded district where about 14 extortion and murder cases are registered against himSources in the state police and ATS who have been keeping a tab on his activities since the past few years said Rinda originally hails from Tarn Taran district of Punjab In 1976 his father Charan Singh Sandhu came to Nanded where he worked as a truck driver The family rented a home at gate number 6 Shahid Pura near Nanded Gurudwara In 2008 the family bought that house and has been living there since His studied at Universal English School in NandedPolice records show he sold his farm lands in Punjab between 2004 and 2008 and purchased 4 acres of farm land in NandedIn 2008 Rinda and his cousins were arrested by Punjab police in a murder case and the duo were jailed till 2015 when he was released on parole In 2016 he came to Nanded where he was booked in nearly 14 cases of murder attempt to murder theft robbery and extortion But he has been untraceable sinceWe have been searching for him for years Seventeen members of his group are already behind bars In 2017 we received information from intelligence agencies that he was hiding in Pakistanrdquo a Naded police officer saidThe officer added that a team is in Punjab to thoroughly investigate them the four arrested in Karnal terror plot to collect information about Rinda and his sleeper cell believed to be active in MaharashtraSources in the Maharashtra home ministry confirmed they will take custody of all four accusedGurpreet Amandeep Parminder and BhupinderPolice suspect Rinda supplied RDX in Nanded a few months back and was planning to carry out attacks on Mumbairsquos local trainsExtortions in NandedSources in the Maharashtra police said Rinda ran an extortion racket in Nanded and around 50 people worked for him He would send his associates to threaten and extort money from businessmen He would blackmail them using certain audio recordingsrdquo said an officerOur latest input suggest he is still in Pakistan and InterServices Intelligence of the country is helping him activate Babbar Khalsa terror sleeper cell in Indiardquo the officer addedMaharashtra home minister Dilip WalsePatil will on Saturday visit Nanded where police will brief him on the matter