US To Continue Hunt For Perpetrators Of Violence: FBI Director
Kash Patel said Harpreet Singh, part of an alleged foreign terrorist gang, was arrested by the federal agency from US' Sacramento after coordinating with India.
Published : April 22, 2025 at 3:51 PM IST
|Updated : April 22, 2025 at 4:22 PM IST
New Delhi: Amid US Vice President JD Vance’s India visit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday said the hunt for the perpetrators of violence in India and America will continue.
"Harpreet Singh, part of an alleged foreign terrorist gang here illegally in the United States, who we believe was involved in planning multiple attacks on police stations both in India and the United States. The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation coordinating with our partners locally as well as in India. The FBI will continue finding those who perpetrate violence — no matter where they are," said FBI director Kash Patel.
Vice President Vance, is paying an official visit to India from April 21 to 24. He is accompanied by Second Lady Usha Vance, their children, and senior members of the US administration.
Hours after Patel announced about the arrest of Harpreet Singh in the US, the office of the Uttar Pradesh director general of police hailed the action, saying, "It is heartening that Harpreet Singh — a designated terrorist involved in plotting targeted attacks on police stations in India and the US — has been apprehended by FBI."
"In a coordinated crackdown, UP STF arrested his close associate Lazar Masih, an active member of the terror outfit Babbar Khalsa International and ISI-backed module, in March 2025," The UP DGP office shared on X.
The UP police claimed to have successfully foiled Masih's plan to execute a terror attack in Prayagraj during the recently concluded Maha Kumbh mela. "UP police continue to forge a formidable bulwark against terrorism through seamless and strategic collaboration with national and international security agencies," it said.
Following Singh's arrest on Thursday, the FBI has said he had entered the US illegally and evaded capture by using disposable phones and encrypted applications before being nabbed in Sacramento. The US federal agency said Singh is suspected of collaborating with Pakistan's intelligence agency, ISI, and with a terrorist group linked to a Sikh separatist movement.
He was also on the most wanted list of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which announced a cash reward on him in connection with a grenade attack on a retired police officer in Chandigarh in September last year. Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda and Singh alias Happy Passia were among the four accused charged in the case last month by the NIA.
Recently, the NIA has made a breakthrough in the Chandigarh Sector 10 grenade attack case with the arrest of a Punjab resident, who played a key role in the conspiracy hatched by foreign-based BKI terrorists. In the latest arrest, Abhijot Singh of Gurdaspur in Punjab was taken into NIA custody, which identified him as an unknown person whose role had surfaced during the investigation.
"Already in prison for another grenade attack at a police station, Abhijot was found to have been in direct contact with Happy and an important part of the conspiracy," the NIA said.
NIA investigations revealed that Abhijot, on the directions of Happy, had conducted a detailed reconnaissance of the target location multiple times in July and August 2024. He stole a motorcycle with a fake number plate for the crime.
Investigations found Happy gave pistols to Abhijot and another previously arrested accused, Rohan Masih, in August 2024 to fire at a house in Sector 10. Abhijot and Rohan visited the house twice in August but failed to execute the crime, NIA found.
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