Armed men break into Nabha jail, free Khalistani terrorist, five gangsters

Nabha, Nov 27: Five armed men in police uniform on early Sunday broke into Nabha prison jail in Punjab's Patiala district and took along dreaded Khalistan ultra and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Mintoo.

Mintoo, who was arrested in 2014 by Punjab Police in November 2014, was wanted in 10 terror-related cases, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and 2010 recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station.

Five gangsters including one Vicky Gonder also fled along with Mintoo.

State police have flagged a high alert across the state and on borders of Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir.

The vehicles used for escorting the jailed terrorist and gangsters were Toyota Fortuner, Maruti Swift and Hyundai Verna.

The armed men came at around 10 am, disguised themselves as cops.

"They even used handcuffs placed on other two men to disguise them as real cops," said a senior Punjab Police official

Punjab police records have also revealed that Mintoo visited Europe in 2010 to develop contacts and left Pakistan in June 2013 for an extensive tour of Europe lasting 11 months. He visited Italy, Belgium, Germany, France and other European countries before reaching South East Asia.

Mintoo's KLF was extensively using the internet for collecting funds, attracting recruits and spreading falsehoods and hatreds.

Gonder and his 15 member gang were in jail after they had shot dead another gangster Sukha Kahlon in Phagwara in January 2015 in full public view. Kahlon was on his way then to a local court. Gonder and his gang had even danced after eliminating Kahlon.