Harpreet Singh behind multiple terror attacks, Says FBI chief
Chandigarh: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has confirmed the arrest of Punjab-origin Harpreet Singh, alias Happy Passia, in Sacramento, United States, for his alleged role in multiple terror-related incidents in both India and the US.
FBI Director Kash Patel stated that Singh was part of a foreign terrorist gang believed to be responsible for attacks on police stations in both countries. “@FBISacramento conducted the investigation in coordination with our partners locally as well as in India,” Patel posted on X. “Excellent work from all, and justice will be done. The FBI will continue finding those who perpetrate violence — no matter where they are.”
According to Punjab Police, Singh is a key operative of the Pakistan’s ISI-backed Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and a close associate of Pakistan-based terrorist Harvinder Rinda. He was apprehended following extensive coordination between Indian and US agencies.
Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav described the arrest as a “major milestone” in the crackdown on ISI-supported terror networks. He said the arrest was the result of strong intelligence sharing and international cooperation.
“Happy Passia, a native of Passia village in Amritsar, began his criminal activities with gangster Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and later aligned with ISI-supported terrorist Harvinder Rinda,” DGP Yadav stated.
Singh allegedly played a crucial role in running ISI-backed terror modules in Punjab, facilitating targeted killings, grenade attacks on police buildings, and extortion operations between 2023 and 2025. Yadav added that most terror incidents in Punjab after September 2024 have been linked to Singh.
Investigators revealed that Singh operated from the US, recruiting vulnerable drug-addicted youth to execute attacks in return for money and narcotics. The Punjab Police claim they have dismantled all of Singh’s modules and provided a detailed dossier to central agencies and the US authorities, ultimately leading to his arrest.
Steps have now been initiated to seek Singh’s extradition to India to face trial under Indian law.
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FIDE Women's World Cup final: Humpy draws with Divya in first game
Batumi (Georgia), Jul 26 (PTI): Young Indian International Master Divya Deshmukh held her nerves to hold stalwart Koneru Humpy to a draw in game 1 of the FIDE Women's World Cup final, with both players having their share of opportunities to take the lead here on Saturday.
The draw with black means Humpy, the two-time World Rapid champion, holds a slight edge going in the second and final game under the classical chess rules in the two-game mini-match, and should the deadlock continue, games of shorter duration will be played to determine the winner.
Humpy employed the Queen's gambit accepted as black and it turned out to be a pretty fascinating game right out of the opening as Divya, 19, came up with a piece sacrifice early to deny the black king the right to castle.
Humpy was the first to err and, according to computers, Divya had things under control on the 14th move. However in her bid to recover the extra material, the Nagpur girl, who has secured a place in the Candidates tournament with her sterling performance here, missed a promising continuation.
What followed the exchange of all minor pieces and the ensuing queen and rook endgame gave enough counter play to both players. The game was eventually drawn after Humpy sacrificed her rook to force perpetual checks.
"The game saw an extremely sharp battle with the game ending in a draw in 41 moves. On move 7, Divya made her aggressive intentions clear by offering another pawn,
which looked like home preparation. Humpy made a practical decision of refraining from taking the pawn and a balanced position was reached by move 10 by white," said Grandmaster Pravin Thipsay, an Arjuna awardee and the first Indian to get a chess Grandmaster norm.
"However, instead of developing the undeveloped Knight, Humpy retreated the centralised Knight on move 10, giving huge positional advantage to Divya. Divya could have gained huge positional advantage on the 12th move by moving a rook. However, she chose to play for King side attack by sacrificing a piece instead.
"Humpy, too, erred at this stage and instead of moving the King to Queen side, moved it to the King side. Divya, on move 14, could have obtained a crushing attack by threatening a mate by developing her Queen. Instead she chose to exchange a pair of Bishops first, which enabled Humpy to defend her King by returning the piece," said Thipsay.
"Players thus reached a balanced Queen and two Rooks ending. Divya continued to play ambitiously and tried to attack Humpy’s King but the latter defended accurately and the game was drawn in 41 moves by perpetual check," he added.
In the play-off for the third place, Chinese players Zhongyi Tan, the former women's world champion and top seed Lei Tingjie also decided to split points out of a Queen’s gambit declined game.
The opening raised visions of a close contest between the two but having been knocked out of title race in the previous round, none of them wanted to take any huge risk. It was still a middle game when the players shook hands.
With the top two positions sealed for the Indians, the berth to the next Candidates is also assigned, while the player finishing third will also get an entry to the premier event scheduled for 2026.
Results: Divya Deshmukh (Ind) drew with Koneru Humpy (Ind); Zhongyi Tan (Chn) drew with Tingjie Lei (Chn).
