A joint operation by the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC), and the Military Intelligence Group (MIG) resulted in the arrest of three suspected members of a Sikh extremist group in an apartment in Iloilo City earlier in March.
In a statement, CICC Executive Director Alexander Ramos said joint operatives stormed an apartment in an exclusive subdivision in the city at dawn on March 7 and caught the militants off guard.
“The well-coordinated lightning strike by operatives caught members of the militant group flatfooted and [they] did not attempt to resist the heavily armed troops,” Ramos said.
The suspects were identified as Manpreet Singh, 23; Amritpal Singh, 24; and Arshdeep Singh, 26 — all Indian nationals.
He attributed the operation’s success to the “proper and speedy” coordination between the government agencies involved through the National Cybercrime Hub established at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
“The President will not tolerate any foreign terrorist to set foot in the country,” he said.
The suspects are also being probed for their alleged ties to the Jammu and Kashmir Ghaznavi Force (JKGF), another terror group from India that has been banned by the Indian government under the anti-terror law.
The JKGF has been involved in infiltration bids, narcotics and weapon smuggling, and terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.
It draws its forces from terrorist organizations, such as Lashker-E-Taiba, Jaish-E-Mohammed, Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, and Harkat-ul-Jehad-E-Islami.
The suspects entered the country using fake passports. They evaded detection until they were tracked down by experts from the CICC, who alerted the BI and the AFP during a case conference held at the National Cybercrime Hub.
The suspects are also on the Interpol Red Notice watchlist and will face charges of murder, violation of the Explosive Substances Act 2001, and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act 1967 of India.PNA
