The DGP denied reports that Rajiv Singh was arrested because he was an eyewitness of the kidnapping of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra allegedly by the Punjab police in September 1995. The Khalra case was presently being probed by the CBI as per the directions of the Supreme Court.

He claimed that this was the first attempt since the return of peace in the state to reorganise unemployedurban youth for carrying out subversive activities with the active support of militants based in Pakistan and other countries. The new outfit, of which Rajiv Singh was the leader and ideologue and Akaljit Singh the hit man, had plans to target people in key positions and strike at vital installations and religious places, he added.

The release of Akaljit Singh from Delhi's Tihar jail recently and his joint efforts with Rajiv Singh to form a new terrorist outfit clearly proved that efforts were being made to revive terrorist activity here with the help of terrorists released on bail, the DGP added.

The DGP said Akaljit was arrested in New Delhi in February, 1992 from the Indira Gandhi international airport while trying to sneak out of the country with false documents.

Akaljit and a few of his associates, who are still in Tihar jail, were responsible for a number of sensational crimes including an explosion at the Indira Gandhi airport, attempts to blow up the oil depot at Ambala, killing of a deputy jailsuperintendent at Amritsar, killing of two other Punjab police personnel and the brutal massacre of 20 RSS workers at Dabwali in Haryana, he added.

The "Tigers of Sikh land" was to follow the ideology and strategy of the KNA, which was formed in 1989 and had emerged as the leading urban based militant outfit with educated unemployed youth as its members, he added.

Dogra claimed that Akaljit was trying to revive his links with former KNA a members released from jails and was motivating them for the militant cause by luring out promises of financial help.