Harwinder Singh Sandhu (Rinda) Age, Death, Family, Biography

Some Lesser Known Facts About Harwinder Singh Sandhu

• Harwinder Singh Sandhu was the “most-wanted ‘A’ plus category” gangster in Punjab. He was associated with the Khalistani organization Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

• He shifted from Tarn Taran to Nanded Sahib in Maharashtra with his family when he was eleven.

• In 2008, Harwinder Singh Sandhu killed one of his relatives in Tarn Taran at the age of 18 following a family dispute and landed in jail.

• In 2013, he attacked Jail staff in Sangrur. Later, he attacked an Assistant Superintendent of Patiala jail.

• Harwinder Singh Sandhu was released on bail from Nabha jail in October 2014.

• In 2016, his brother Surinder alias Satta was murdered by Dilbagh Singh in Nanded, Maharashtra, following a personal enmity. To take revenge for his brother’s murder, he abducted Dilbagh Singh from Shri Hargobindpur and killed him. He threw Dilbagh’s body in a river.

• After that, in another revenge killing, he murdered Bachiter Singh in Nanded. Later, he was accused of the murder of Manpreet alias Mannu in Wazirabad, Maharashtra.
  

  An old picture of Harwinder Singh Sandhu

• Harwinder Singh Sandhu then began extorting money from local traders in Nanded Sahib. He was also named for killing two people.

• In 2016, he was charged with murder, attempt to murder, and Arms Act cases in the Wazirabad and Vimantal police stations. He was then declared a proclaimed offender (PO).

• He shifted his base to Punjab from Nanded Sahib in Maharashtra due to pressure from Maharashtra Police and his family roots in Punjab.

• Harwinder Singh Sandhu participated in student politics at Panjab University (PU) in October 2016 and engaged in criminal activities, including attempted murders and assassinations.
  

  Harvinder Singh Rinda posing with a pistol

• Reportedly, he fired bullets at the leaders of the Student Organisation of India (SOI) at PU to spread his terror and influence on student politics.

• He then threatened to kill the Station House Officer of Sector 11 police station, Inspector Narinder Patial, near Gate Number-2 of Panjab University.

• After that, in April 2017, Harwinder Singh Sandhu went on to kill Satnam Singh, a village sarpanch from Hoshiarpur, along with two others outside a local gurudwara in 38 Sector, Chandigarh.

• In 2017, the Punjab Police received a tip-off about Rinda and his wife Harpreet Kaur’s presence in a hotel in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The Punjab police alerted their peers in Bengaluru, who then raided the hotel. However, Rinda managed to escape by jumping from the room window, while his wife was taken into police custody.
  

  A picture of Harwinder Singh Sandhu without a turban

• In April 2017, Harwinder Singh Sandhu, along with gangster Dilpreet Singh alias Baba, murdered Des Raj Pehlwan in Ropar.

• He left for Canada in 2017 and got involved in various criminal activities in Punjab from there, including attacks on police buildings and involvement in murders and extortion.

• In April 2018, Harwinder Singh Sandhu and his close associate Dilpreet Singh Baba separated after the attack on the noted Punjabi singer, Parmish Verma, in Mohali.

• He was then declared wanted in multiple cases of murder, contract killing, robbery, extortion, and snatchings across several districts in Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh.

• Harwinder Singh Sandhu came into contact with Khalistani operatives when he was in India.

• Rinda then allegedly moved to Pakistan through Nepal with his family using a fake passport and began living under the protection of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in 2018.
  

  Two different pictures of Harwinder Singh Sandhu

• He was connected to the banned pro-Khalistani organisation BKI and worked in coordination with the ISI.

• Harwinder Singh Sandhu was the main accused in the hand-grenade attack at the Nawanshahr Crime Investigating Agency (CIA) building on 8 November 2021.
  

  The Nawanshahr Crime Investigating Agency (CIA) building where the hand-grenade attack happened

• Reportedly, he then began hiring local gangsters to carry out grenade and RPG attacks in various locations in Punjab.

• He planned grenade attacks outside the army base in Pathankot in 2021 and an attack on the CIA police station in SBS Nagar in November 2021.

• He then planned an attack in Rupnagar district in Punjab outside a police station in March 2022 and an RPG attack on the intelligence headquarters in Mohali in May 2022.
  

  Parents of the accused in the 2022 RPG attacks at the district police office in Tarn Taran

• In 2022, his name emerged in the murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala.

• The National Investigation Agency (NIA) then announced a cash reward of Rs. 10 lakh on finding Rinda.

• After that, during a joint operation of the Punjab and Haryana Police in Karnal, his name appeared after the recovery of IEDs from gangsters.

• There were conflicting reports about Rinda’s situation, with some claiming a gangster group in Pakistan shot him, while others suggested he died due to kidney failure or drug overdose.

• In January 2023, intelligence agencies found major evidence indicating that Harwinder Singh Sandhu may still be alive and was under the protection of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

• In November 2023, his father, Charanjit Singh Sandhu, and brother Sarabjot Singh Sandhu were arrested by the Nanded police in connection with a case registered in April 2023 at Wazirabad police station in Nanded district related to extortion and MCOCA.
  

  Harvinder Singh Rinda’s father and brother after being arrested in Nanded