Man arrested in US for ‘aiding’ terrorists pleads not guilty
Monday, 23/12/2013
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20131222/punjab.htm#1
Sacramento (California) : Indian-American Sikh Balwinder Singh, who was arrested from his home in Nevada on Wednesday night for allegedly providing material support to terrorist groups in Punjab, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, including conspiracy to kidnap, murder and maim persons in a foreign country.
A truck driver, Balwinder Singh, alias Jhajj, alias Possi, alias Baljit Singh, was taken into custody by the FBI and the Terrorist Task Force.
In his statement through a translator in a US court, Balwinder said the charges “are all wrong.” He said his true name was Baljit Singh, and not Balwinder Singh, as reported by the US Attorney’s office.
But prosecutors claimed he went by various names, and that there was evidence he had travelled to locations around the world in the past few years. They alleged he had provided material support to two terrorist groups in India and Pakistan.
Balwinder said he had used medication in the past for depression, which was primarily the result of a drinking problem. He is facing six charges, including conspiracy of murder, kidnap and maim persons in a foreign country, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, false statement on immigration documents, use of immigration documents procured by fraud and unlawful production of an identification document. He was arrested on December 17, 2013, in Reno, Nevada.
Balwinder allegedly sent most of the money to Gurjant Singh and Saroop Singh in India. According to the ‘Grand Jury Chargesheet’, Gurjant and Saroop of Punjab were co-conspirators and received wire transfers of the money from Balwinder, which was to be used to support acts of terrorism in India.
Within the indictment document, the Grand Jury charges that Singh was recognised in 2012 by a person named Wadhawa Singh Babbar (Pakistan) as the leader of Babbar Khalsa International in the US. There is no evidence that Balwinder Singh was planning any attacks in the US. His trial is set for February 11. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
