Lakhbir Singh Rode, the founder of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and a designated terrorist, died on Monday in Pakistan. He suffered a heart attack last Friday.
Rode’s brother and former Akal Takht Jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode has reportedly confirmed his death in Pakistan.
The 72-year-old was a designated terrorist and the co-founder of the International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF), an organisation proscribed in India under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Rode joined the Khalistan movement in 1982 and founded ISYF in 1984 after Operation Blue Star.
Having fled India for Canada, Rode then shifted base to Pakistan in 1991. He was also among the 20 most wanted terrorists whose extradition India sought from Pakistan in the wake of the 2001 attack on India’s Parliament by a five-member group of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists.
Rode and KLF had been on the radar of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after the 2021 IED blasts in the Ludhiana court complex. Rode’s nephew and son of former Akal Takht Jatehedar Jasbir Singh Rode was arrested by Punjab Police in connection with the recovery of RDX and a tiffin bomb.
The NIA alleged that Rode, with the help of Pakistan-based cross-border smugglers, had formed a terror module to smuggle weapons into India.
Rode was also said to be among the top Punjab militants who, in league with the ISI, were assigned the task of carrying out militant activities.
Rode's name cropped up among intelligence circles again this year during the arrest of separatist leader and controversial preacher Amritpal Singh. According to intelligence officials, Lakhbir's close associates played an important role in the elevation of Amritpal and one of them was learnt to be in Dubai where Amritpal spent nine years.
Amritpal got indoctrinated due to his links with Rode, after which he took over the operations of Waris Punjab De. The fact that Amritpal's armed militia was carrying unlicensed weapons—12 bore double barrel guns, 0.315 bore rifles and 0.32 bore revolvers—has led investigators to probe whether the KLF operatives had passed on arms and ammunition to Amritpal and his associates.
Recently, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in Mohali ordered the confiscation of land belonging to Rode in Punjab’s Moga district.
(With inputs from Namrata Biji Ahuja)
