Recent killings of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has brought back into focus similar methods used by Khalistani terrorists to destabilize Punjab, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has initiated probes this month in two such cases – firing on a priest, Kamaldeep Sharma, and sewadar (volunteer) Simranjit Kaur – on January 31 this year in Phillaur, seriously injuring them, and killing of a dera follower Manohar Lal in Bhatinda on November 20 last year, reports Hindustan Times on October 24. In both the cases taken over on October 8 by the NIA, it looks to investigate a pattern behind targeted killings in both Kashmir and Punjab. In Punjab, the gunmen were given pistols on the directions of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canada-based ‘chief’ of banned outfit Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), investigators suspect. The shooters, identified as Lovepreet alias Ravi, Kamaljit Sharma and Ram Singh, targeted prominent persons of other faiths “to create a sense of fear and disharmony in the society,” the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said while handing over the two cases to the NIA. In April, the NIA filed charges against eight members of another outfit called Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) for the murder of Balwinder Singh Sandhu, a Shaurya Chakra bravery award winner, in Tarn Taran District in October 2020. “Islamic or Khalistani outfits in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab, operating with the help of Pakistan army and the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence, the Pakistani spy agency), have found this modus operandi more useful to them,” an official said, requesting anonymity. “The local operators, who act as hitmen, are provided with guns easily available within India or smuggled from across the border, for which money is paid through Western Union money transfer or hawala (informal money transfer). The specific targets are selected by handlers and these operatives are asked to attack and flee.”