'Was case of mistaken identity': Dhadi on arrest for Rode link

PK Jaiswar

Advertisement

Amritsar, December 14

Even though officials of the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) were tightlipped over the discharge of UK national Paramjit Singh alias Dhadi, it was apparently a case of ‘mistaken identity’ if the latter was to be believed.

He was arrested by the SSOC on December 4 from Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport on the suspicion that he had been in touch with the deceased Khalistani terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode, who died of a cardiac arrest in Pakistan recently.

“They arrested me while claiming that there was a criminal case against me. During police custody, they repeatedly questioned me about changing my name to Punjab Singh as it was mentioned in the passport. Later, I was let off with the police claiming that I was not the person they were looking for,” said Dhadi. They also took away his phone for scrutinising the call details and kept on asking him if he ever had links with Rode, he added.

He confessed that he had met him on a couple of occasions long ago during his visit to Nankana Sahib. Last time, he met him in 2019, he said.

He feigned ignorance on whether the UK Embassy intervened following his arrest. “I was in the police custody and, therefore, I don’t know whether the embassy had contacted the government or not,” he said, adding that the embassy must have taken up the issue with the government.