Khalistan Commando Force (KCF)

The Khalistan Commando Force (KCF) was one of the main armed Kharku groups of the 1980s and 1990s. It was named in the Declaration of Khalistan, issued by the Panthic Committee at Sri Akal Takht Sahib on 29 April 1986, which put it under "General Hari Singh" as commander-in-chief and said it would be the basis of Khalistan's future defence organisation.

Accounts of its start differ. The Punjabi University sociologist Birinder Pal Singh calls it the first and oldest Kharku outfit, organised in 1984 after the Ghallughara of June 1984. Indian official sources quoted by The Tribune give February 1986.

Leaders, in order

• Manbir Singh Chaheru, known as Hari Singh, first leader from February 1986. He was arrested near Jalandhar on 8 August 1986. In December 1987 the police said he had escaped from custody; other accounts say he was killed in custody.
• Labh Singh (Sukhdev Singh), a former Punjab Police constable, took over. He was killed in a police encounter near Tanda, Hoshiarpur, on 12 July 1988.
• Kanwarjit Singh Sultanwind led for a short time, according to The Tribune.
• After that the KCF split into factions under Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, Paramjit Singh Panjwar and Gurjant Singh Rajasthani, each sitting in a different Panthic Committee.

Key moments

• 10 August 1986: General Arun Vaidya, army chief during Operation Blue Star, was shot dead in Pune by Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha of the KCF. Both were hanged on 9 October 1992. Panthic sources remember them as Shaheed.
• 12 July 1988: Labh Singh killed.
• 6 May 2023: Panjwar, who had joined the KCF in 1986, was shot in the head in a park in Johar Town, Lahore, by unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle. Reports found no named shooters and no motive.

The state's view and where it stands: the Government of India lists the KCF among the "terrorist organisations" banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Indian officials allege that it funded itself through bank robberies and kidnappings, and that Panjwar fled to Pakistan in 1995 or 1996 and lived in Lahore, where they say he arranged arms training. Panjwar's family said in 2001 that they had lost touch with him. No successor to Panjwar is named in the reports found.