Lakhbir Singh Rode ( – 1 December 2023) was an Indian Khalistani separatist and the nephew of

Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale (; born Jarnail Singh Brar; 2 June 1947– 6 June 1984) was a Sikh militant. After Operation Bluestar, he posthumously became the leading figure for the Khalistan movement, although he did not personally advocate for ...

. Rode headed the

International Sikh Youth Federation The International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) is a Khalistani militant organisation that aims to establish an independent homeland for the Sikhs called Khalistan from the Punjab state of India. It is banned as a terrorist organisation under ...

(ISYF), which has branches in over a dozen countries in western Europe and Canada. Rode was also affiliated with the Khalistan Zindabad Force. He is also known as Lakhbir Singh, Singh Lakhbir Rode, or Singh Lakhbir. He was suspected to be living in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, Pakistan.

Biography

Rode is said to have been one of the main organisers of a KZF/ISYF cell at

Birganj Birgunj () is a metropolitan city in Parsa District in Madhes Pradesh in southern Nepal. It lies south of the capital Kathmandu, attached in the north to Raxaul on the border of the Indian state of Bihar. As an entry point to Nepal from Patna, ...

on the India-Nepal border. In 1998, he was arrested at Teku, near

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, Nepal, with 20 kg of

RDX RDX (Research Department Explosive or Royal Demolition Explosive) or hexogen, among other names, is an organic compound with the formula (CH2N2O2)3. It is white, odorless, and tasteless, widely used as an explosive. Chemically, it is classified ...

explosives, and apparently confessed that the RDX was given to him by a councillor in the Pakistani Embassy in Kathmandu. In July 2007, the investigative weekly ''

Tehelka ''Tehelka'' () is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and another colleague ...

'' reported that the militant

Talwinder Singh Parmar Talwinder Singh Parmar (or Hardev Singh Parmar; 26 February 1944 – 15 October 1992) was a Sikh militant and the mastermind of the 1985 Air India Flight 182 bombing, which killed 329 people. It was the worst single incident of aviation terro ...

, in a confession to the Punjab police days before his death on 15 October 1992, had identified Rode as the mastermind behind the Air India 182 bombing on 23 June 1985. However, this has been disputed by Canadian investigators, who say they had talked to Rode and that he is unlikely to be the mastermind behind the plot, now established to have been

together with Inderjit Singh Reyat. Until his death, Rode was sought for trial in India, being wanted for arms smuggling, conspiracy to attack government leaders in New Delhi, and spreading religious hatred in Punjab. Rode died of a heart attack in Pakistan on 1 December 2023, at the age of 71.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rode, Lakhbir Singh 1950s births Year of birth uncertain 2023 deaths People from Punjab, India Sikh politics Khalistan movement people Sikh terrorism Indian expatriates in Pakistan