A Hong Kong court has given the nod to the extradition of Indian jailbreak mastermind Ramanjit Singh, alias Romi - a key conspirator in the Nabha City jailbreak in the Punjab state.
"With the coordinated efforts of the Punjab Police and the Indian government, a Hong Kong court on Tuesday ruled in favour of the extradition of fugitive Ramanjit Singh alias Romi, the key conspirator in the Nabha Jail break, as well as several other major crimes," the government of Punjab stated late Tuesday night.
The government said that Romi, who was arrested in June 2016 in a weapons recovery and fake credit card case, got bail in August 2016. He later fled to Hong Kong in violation of the bail order conditions, it added.
The extradition proceedings against Ramanjit were initiated in 2018 after he was arrested by Hong Kong police in a robbery case. An Indian team of police officials visited Hong Kong and secured the provisional arrest of the fugitive, the statement said.
A formal request was made to the Indian government for taking up with Hong Kong police the arrest of the Ramanjit, as per the bilateral Extradition Treaty signed with it.
The request highlighted allegations of Romi's involvement in the promotion of terrorist activities in India as well as for robbery, murder, extortion, drug smuggling and supplying weapons to criminals.
As per reports, the inmates of the Nabha prison who were freed by Romi included the chief of a Sikh separatist group demanding a homeland in Punjab. The group, the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), has been banned by the Indian government under its Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act.