Former militant Rattandeep Singh shot dead by unidentified gunmen

Unidentified men had also murdered Panjwar in Pakistan last year. Rattandeep Singh had spent many years with Panjwar in Pakistan before he was arrested during his visit to India back in 2014.

Rattandeep Singh hailed from Rohar village in Haryana’s Jind district and was staying in Karnal.

According to the Punjab Police, Rattandeep Singh went to Bangkok on May 4, 1992, after completing his matric exam.

Later, he went to Germany and from there to Belgium in quick succession. Rattandeep Singh entered Pakistan in March 1993 on a forged passport and allegedly underwent arms training twice on hilly terrain about 45 km from Islamabad. He also worked as the driver of Panjwar.

Rattandeep Singh returned to India on July 4, 1996, and was booked in an Arms Act case in Jind. He was released on bail on July 31, 1996, and stayed with his family till he was again arrested in the Chandigarh blast case. On July 3, 1999, he managed to escape from police custody and remained absconding till 2014.

The State Special Operations Cell (SSOC) of the Punjab Police arrested Rattandeep Singh from the outskirts of Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh on September 17, 2014.

The police accused him of smuggling explosives into Amritsar for planting in a vehicle near the Circuit House in May 2010. He was also wanted in connection with a bomb blast at the Passport Office, Sector 34, Chandigarh (1999); a bomb blast on a railway bridge in Panipat (1999); planting an IED on the railway track at the Shahabad-Markanda bridge (1998); encounter with the police and escape from custody (1999) and seizure of arms and explosives in Jind district (1996 and 2000).

Rattandeep Singh faced prosecution in all cases and was convicted only in one case registered under the Arms Act. He was acquitted in all terror-related cases and stayed with his family since 2019.

Rattandeep Singh reportedly had a hunch that he could be murdered. Citing threats to his life, he was hesitant to travel for court hearings when he was locked in Nabha High-Security Jail. After his acquittal, Rattandeep Singh had written several times on social media that his life was under threat.

He had two marriages. His first wife had left India along with their daughter in 2003. Rattandeep Singh got married again after coming out of jail and had a son.

He was again booked for attempting to go abroad on a fake passport in 2021. He was out on bail in that case.