Gangster-turned-terrorist Harpreet Singh alias Happy Passia rose from a small-time criminal in 2018-19 to become a ‘primary node’ of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to create terror in Punjab by 2023-24.
According to Punjab Police, Passia started his career in crime with gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, and his USA-based associates Darman Kahlon and Amrit Bal, and started criminal activities.
A native of Passia village in Ajnala, Passia left India for Dubai in 2018 and returned a year later. He then left for the US on a fake passport sometime in 2020, the police sources said.
“After coming into contact with Pakistan-based BKI terrorist Harvinder Rinda, Passia has become a primary node of the ISI and on his directions, terror modules in Punjab were executing different terror acts. Passia has direct involvement in the majority of the terror acts that have taken place in the state after September 2024 and he was masterminding terror activities while based in the US,” DGP Gaurav Yadav said.
On his social media posts, he claims himself to be an operative of Babbar Khalsa International (a banned terrorist organisation) and had joined hands with Rinda.
The NIA has found Passia’s direct involvement in the Chandigarh grenade blast case as the federal agency claimed that he was the person who allured two youths from Gurdaspur to hurl a grenade at a house in Sector 10 in Chandigarh.
The modus operandi in the cases related to grenades lobbed at Police installations that rocked Punjab since September 2024 has been similar. Notably, his role has appeared in almost 14 grenade blasts in Punjab in the last few months.
NIA announced ₹5 lakh reward on Passia. He was also involved in the 2025 blast at Gumtala police post in Amritsar.
As per police sources, between late 2024 and early 2025, BKI orchestrated a series of terror attacks across Punjab, including 14 hand grenade assaults, one improvised explosive device (IED) attack, and one rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) strike targeting police establishment and officials’ residences.
Police said that Passia, used to get in touch with gullible local youth and small-time criminals to lob grenades at police stations using encrypted messages and calls.
“We have provided a strong dossier about Passia’s involvement in creating terror in Punjab backed by evidence. As our dossier was very strong, the US agencies, for the first time, were quick to arrest him,” said a senior Punjab Police officer, who didn’t wish to be named. The officer has been in touch with central agencies over the issue.
Passia’s arrest has come as a major relief for Punjab Police because of his growing clout in the ISI.
“Today marks a major milestone in the success of the war against terror, with the announcement of detention of Happy Passia by the United States authorities. After a long operation in which the state of Punjab, central government agencies and the United States authorities cooperated and exchanged information that this person wanted for numerous terrorist crimes in India has been detained in the United States,” said Punjab DGP Gaurav Yadav.
He said Punjab Police has meticulously tracked this case and all modules raised by the Happy Passiaa were dismantled successfully after complete intelligence mapping of his contacts, which helped in disrupting his network.
“Punjab Police has made an extensive dossier on Passia and shared it with the central agencies, and through appropriate channels the information was further shared with USA authorities, leading to his detention,” Yadav added.
The DGP said Passia already has lookout circulars (LOC) issued against him, while blue-corner and red-corner notices are also open.