Chandigarh: Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia, the alleged mastermind of 14 terrorist attacks in Punjab, was arrested by the FBI in the US, officials said on Friday. The gangster was living in the US for a long time.
FBI Sacramento, in a post on X, confirmed the arrest of Happy Passia. "Today, Harpreet Singh, an alleged terrorist responsible for terror attacks in Punjab, India, was arrested by the FBI & ERO in Sacramento," the agency said. FBI added that Harpreet is linked to two international terrorist groups and entered the U.S. illegally. He used burner phones to evade capture.
According to sources, the gangster is currently under the detention of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The arrest is considered a major success for the National Investigation Agency, which had put a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on him.
Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav Friday hailed the arrest of gangster-turned-terrorist Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia in the US as a "major milestone in the success of war against terror" and said efforts are on to extradite him. The DGP said Punjab Police has taken up the matter with the central government and all efforts for his extradition are being done.
In a post on X, he said, "The arrest of Harpreet Singh @ Happy Passia, a #USA-based key operative of ISI-backed Babbar Khalsa International (#BKI) and close associate of #Pakistan-based Terrorist Rinda, is a major milestone in the sustained crackdown on ISI-backed terror networks."
The arrest of Harpreet Singh @ Happy Passia, a #USA-based key operative of ISI-backed Babbar Khalsa International (#BKI) and close associate of #Pakistan-based Terrorist Rinda, is a major milestone in the sustained crackdown on ISI-backed terror networks.
— DGP Punjab Police (@DGPPunjabPolice) April 18, 2025
Between 2023–2025,… pic.twitter.com/Q0VzHe1ABz
In a video message, he also said, "After coming in contact with Pak-based Rinda, he (Passia) became a primary node through whom at the best of Pak ISI the terror modules used to carry out different types of terror acts in Punjab."
"After September 2024, in many incidents which took place, in many of these Passia had a direct involvement and he was masterminding these while based in the United States," the DGP said.
Happy Passia was faking the identity of a Sikh man when he was arrested. According to sources, earlier he lived with cropped hair and no beard. Gangster Happy Pasia is said to be associated with Khalistani organisations like Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).
On September 11 2024, a grenade attack took place at a residence in the Kothi. Two youths named Rohan and Vishal Masih hurled a hand grenade and fled. Happy Pasia had claimed responsibility for them on social media.
Security agencies had started searching for him after a series of blasts targeting police establishments in Amritsar in November 2024. Happy Pasia had also claimed responsibility for the blast near Gumtala police station in Amritsar in January this year and had also threatened more in the future.
On March 23, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) chargesheeted four terror operatives of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorist organisation in the 2024 grenade attack case. The accused include Pakistan-based Designated Individual Terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda, apart from Happy Passia.
Investigations revealed that Rinda, along with Happy Passia, had orchestrated the conspiracy to strike terror among law enforcement officials and the general public through the grenade attack, as part of the broader aim to promote BKI's terrorist agenda.
Read more:
