Top Sikh separatist in India recaptured after Taliban-style jailbreak

NEW DELHI - Khalistan Liberation Front Chief Harminder Mintoo was arrested by Indian security forces, one day after he escaped daringly from an Indian prison in Punjab after Taliban-style jailbreak.

Harminder Mintoo, who had managed to flee from prison a day earlier from India's Nabha Central Jail in Punjab’s Patiala, was arrested from a railway station in New Delhi on Monday morning by a joint operation conducted by Punjab Police and the Special Crime Branch of the Delhi Police.

Among others who broke out of the prison were Vicky Gondar, Gurpreet Sekhon, Neeta Deol and Vikramjit.

Mintoo is the chief of the Khalistan Liberation Front and was rescued by his comrades in a daring endeavour on Sunday, when a group of 12 armed men stormed into the prison. Along with him, five others also escaped from the prison.

The men came in four cars, kept three parked outside and used an SUV to reach one of the jail gates. While some of them wore turbans and had a beard, the rest were clean shaven

India has alleged over the years that Mintoo is linked to Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI. He was arrested from the Indira Gandhi airport in 2014 after he returned to India from Thailand.

The Khalistan Movement seeks to establish a separate state for Sikhs in North-Western Republic of India.

Moreover, UP police also claimed to have arrested Parminder Singh alias Painda , who had played a key role in planning and executing the jailbreak, from Kairana in Shamli district. He was allegedly driving one of the SUVs used in the escape.