Malaysia works with India to check KLF activities

Kuala Lumpur, 30 July: Malaysia has said it is working with Interpol and the Indian authorities to check on the activities of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), noting that the threat posed by the militant group was real though it may not be necessarily based in this country.

"We monitor all militant groups in Malaysia. In this context, we are waiting for the necessary details from the Indian authorities and Interpol," home minister Hishammuddin Husseine said.

"We might be a transit point and might also be the destination. However, I am not in a position to disclose the details at the moment," he added.

The minister's remarks followed recent news reports in which Punjab police claimed that KLF militants could be hiding and canvasisng support in ethnic mix Malaysia.

A sizeable population of Malaysian Indian Sikhs live in this country.

Hishammuddin said the presence of the group showed that terrorism was not exclusive to any race or religion.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Gurdwaras Council president Harcharan Singh asked the Punjab police to provide Malaysian police with evidence as he felt the claim could tarnish the country's good name.

He said the council was convinced such a group was not operating here.

"Malaysian Sikhs do not believe in the use of violence to achieve one's aim," Singh said in a statement yesterday.

Information on the KLF base in Malaysia was obtained following the arrest of a suspected militant in Punjab on Monday.

Earlier, Malaysian Federal Special Task Force (Operations and Counter Terrorism) Director Commissioner Mohamed Fuzi Harun had said that there was no evidence to support claims that KLF had set up its base outside Kuala Lumpur.

"We can confirm there is no such group based here," Harun said in a statement.
 

(PTI)