NIA detains several suspects during multi-state crackdown

As part of an extensive multistate operation against a network of terrorists, gang members, and drug smugglers, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) detained a number of suspects on Wednesday.

An NIA spokesperson told the media that the raids had to do with cases involving numerous feared gangsters and the associates of terrorist Arsh Dalla.

The respective state police force provided necessary support to the daylong raids carried out at 53 locations in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh.

NIA officials said that pistols, ammunition, a large number of digital devices and incriminating material were seized during the raids aimed at dismantling the terrorist-gangster-smuggler nexus.

The focus of the operation, according to reports, was on the suppliers of weapons, financiers, and logistical support for numerous hard-core gangs who collaborated with terrorist organisations and drug smugglers operating in Pakistan, the UAE, Canada, Portugal, and other nations.

The following districts in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand were among those where raids were carried out: Amritsar, Moga, Fazilka, Ludhiana, Mohali, Faridkot, Barnala, Bhatinda, Ferozepur, SAS Naga, and Jalandhar. Additionally, raids were conducted in Chandigarh and the southeast district of Delhi-NCR.

Along with Dalla, other notorious gangsters targeted by the NIA during these raids included Lawrence Bishnoi, Sukha Duneke, Harry Maur, Narender alias Lali, Kala Jatheri, and Deepak Tinu.

Following the filing of five cases since August 2022, including the two new charges against organised criminal gangs in July of this year, the NIA began a string of raids, the seventh in a succession.

The cases concern plans for targeted killings, sponsorship of anti-Khalistan terrorist organisations, and extortion by gangsters, many of whom are incarcerated or conducting business from various other nations.

Investigations have shown that an organised network of foreign-based operators carried out these schemes, which were conceived in jails across several states. These plots included the shocking killings of international Kabaddi player Sandeep Nangal Ambia, mining merchant Mehal Singh, and Maharashtra builder Sanjay Biyani in Punjab last year.

Many of the crooks and gangsters who were formerly in charge of gangs in India, according to an NIA officer, have migrated to other countries in recent years and are now engaging in violent and terrorist operations overseas.

“These criminals have been engaged in planning and commissioning serious crimes, including contract and revenge killings, in association with criminals lodged in jails across India. These groups have been carrying out targeted killings and raising funds for attacks and other nefarious activities through smuggling of drugs and weapons, hawala and extortions,” the NIA spokesperson said.

The official claimed that with news of various prisons turning into hotbeds of gang warfare and deadly nexi, which recently led to violence and murder inside Goindwal Jail, attention on these gangs became more intense. Similar raids by the NIA had previously taken place at over 370 locations, yielding the confiscation of 38 firearms, including four fatal ones, as well as 1,129 rounds of ammunition.

The agency has so far seized 331 electronic devices, 418 documents, two vehicles, and 87 bank accounts in addition to attaching 13 properties and freezing 87 bank accounts. As a result of the NIA’s efforts to demolish and deconstruct the lethal nexus between terrorists, two fugitives have also been deemed designated individual terrorists, 15 have been charged as Proclaimed Offenders, and Red Corner Notices (RCNs) have been issued against nine others.

(With agency inputs)