Harjinder Singh Jinda (4 April 1961 – 9 October 1992) was a Sikh militant and one of the two assassins of Arun Vaidya.

About $12.5 million USD in 2023) from Punjab National Bank, Miller Gunj branch, Ludhiana[1] to finance the militancy for a separate Sikh state of Khalistan.

[2][3] Jinda was born on 4 April 1962 in village of Gadli,[4][5] in district Amritsar, to Jat sikh Family of Gulzar Singh and Gurnam Kaur.

One of his other nephew, Surjit Singh Penta had committed suicide by consuming cyanide during Operation Black Thunder.

8,000 USD in 2023) Jinda also aided in the planning of a robbery at the State Bank of India in Greater Kailash, Delhi.

70,000 USD in 2023)[15][16] Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha assassinated Congress(I) Member of Parliament Lalit Maken on 31 July 1985,[1] when he was moving towards his car parked across the road from his house in Kirti Nagar, Delhi.

[22] Congress (I) leader, member of Delhi Metropolitan Council, and close associate of Sanjay Gandhi, Arjun Dass was assassinated on 5 September 1985[23][24] by Jinda,[4] Sukha[25] using stenguns because of his involvement in 1984 Anti-Sikh riots.

[26][27] Arjan Dass's name appeared in various affidavits submitted by Sikh victims to Nanavati Commission which was headed by G.T.

(250,000 USD)[35][36] In 1984, General Arun Vaidya had planned and supervised[37] Operation Blue Star, a controversial military operation ordered by Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India,[38] in order to flush out a group of heavily armed Sikh militants in June 1984 at the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs.

On 10 August 1986, General Arun Vaidya was shot to death by Jinda and Sukha while he was driving his car home from the market.

[41] According to Indian intelligence sources, Vaidya had been the number four assassination target on lists by Sikh militants and he was one of several people killed in retaliation for Operation Blue Star.

[42][43] Following the assassination, the Khalistan Commando Force issued a statement declaring that Vaidya had been killed in retaliation for the Operation Blue Star.

[44] On 3 October 1986, 6 men[45] identified in the press as Sikh militants in police uniforms attacked Director General of Punjab Police Julio Francis Ribeiro inside his headquarters in the city of Jalandhar, Punjab, with automatic weapons.

[46] According to Ribeiro he was strolling with his wife when Sikh militants in a jeep disguised as a police one asked to inspect a guards gun.

[55] In November 1986 Jinda and fellow KCF members killed Congress leader Kalicharan Sharma in Ludhiana.

[56][35] On 11 January 1987, Jinda and a fellow militant of the Khalistan Commando Force assassinated Inspector General of Punjab Prisons Trilok Chand Katoch.

[35] On 13 February 1987, Jinda along with other members of Khalistan Commando Force, including its chief general Labh Singh, participated in the biggest bank robbery of Indian history and robbed Rs.

[2][3] The Chicago Sun-Times reported that "12 to 15 Sikhs dressed as policemen and armed with submachine guns and rifles escaped with nearly $4.5 million in the biggest bank robbery in Indian history."

[69] The Los Angeles Times has mentioned that bank robberies have been a major means of financing the Sikh militants' campaign for a separate state of Khalistan.

15 KCF members, who were armed with submachine guns and pistols, surrounded a rouge police van and blocked the front and back with two vehicles.

[72][73] In late March 1987 Jinda and Labh Singh issued a moral code to which they insisted all Sikh should adhere.

Sikh women began wearing traditional clothing and many meat, alcohol and tobacco shops closed.

The enforcement of the decree in its first 2 months resulted in at least 6 killed, 60 shops burned, and complete or partial closure of 1,500 businesses.

[74] According to Assistant Deputy Inspector General of Police in Jalandhar A.S. Siddiqui the moral code had significant popularity among Sikhs especially those living in the rural area.

He said, “Women seem to be pleased with it and there is also the fact that the AISSF has been on a massive recruitment drive through their amrit prachar (preaching of Sikh baptism) meetings.

During their court trial, despite admitting to the killing, they pleaded not-guilty, justifying their actions by saying that Vaidya was "guilty of a serious crime, the punishment for which could only be death".

Sukha and Jinda also wrote a letter to president of India asking for "No-Clemency" prior to their hanging.

Police seize of the temple was lifted 3 hours after the memorial service[81][82] In October 1999, his death anniversary was celebrated in his village Gadli, Amritsar district, where chief of Akal Takhat Amritsar, Giani Puran Singh declared Jinda a national martyr while justifying his action of killing general Vaidya.

[83] On 9 October 2000, representatives of all major Sikh bodies, including ruling Shiromani Akali Dal, the SHSAD, the SGPC, the Damdami Taksal, AISSF and the Dal Khalsa attended the eighth death anniversary of Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhdev Singh Sukha.

[86] Dashmesh Durbar Sikh temple in Surrey, Canada recently organised special prayers for both Jinda and Sukha in Canada[87] On 9 October 2008, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee honoured kin of Jinda and Sukha in the Golden Temple complex, to mark the anniversaries of their death.