The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday detained several suspects during the searches across six States and one Union Territory as part of the crackdown on the terrorist-gangster-drug smuggler nexus, linked to Canada-based “listed terrorist” Arshdeep Singh Gill aka Arsh Dalla and other gangsters.
The raids started in the early hours with the assistance of the local police. The NIA teams zeroed in on 53 locations from where pistols, ammunition and a large number of digital devices were seized. They included places in Punjab’s Amritsar, Moga, Fazilka, Ludhiana, Mohali, Faridkot, Barnala, Bhatinda, Ferozpur, SAS Nagar, Amritsar and Jalandhar.
The searches were also conducted in Rohtak, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Faridabad in Haryana; Sri Ganga Nagar, Jhunjhunu, Hanumangarh and Jodhpur in Rajasthan; Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh; Dehradun and Udhamsingh Nagar in Uttarakhand; in and around Delhi; and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
Besides Arsh Dalla, the others under the NIA scanner in these raids were notorious gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently lodged in Ahmedabad jail; Sukhool Singh aka Sukha Duneke, who is said to have been killed by unknown assailants in Canada’s Winnipeg last week; Harry Maur; Narender alias Lali; Kala Jatheri; and Deepak Tinu among others.
Seventh in the series
“These were the seventh in the series of such crackdowns launched by the NIA following the registration of five cases since August 2022, including two new cases registered against the organised criminal gangs in July 2023,” said the agency.
The cases allege conspiracies of targeted killings, terror funding of pro-Khalistan outfits, extortion, etc. by the gangsters, many of whom are lodged in various jails or are operating from countries like Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia, Portugal and Australia.
According to the NIA, the fresh raids were aimed at dismantling the terror-gangster-drug smuggler nexus by taking action against weapon suppliers, financiers and logistics providers associated with various gangs and their operatives. “These gangs are working with drug smugglers and terrorists based out of other countries, including Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Portugal etc,” it said.
The NIA probe has revealed that conspiracies were allegedly being hatched in jails of different States and executed by an organised network of operatives based abroad. Notable among such conspiracies were the sensational killing of Maharashtra builder Sanjay Biyani, mining trader Mehal Singh and international Kabaddi player, Sandeep Nangal Ambia, in Punjab last year.
Fled overseas
Many gangsters and criminals, who were earlier leading these gangs in India, have fled overseas in recent years and are now pursuing their terror and violence-related activities from there, said the agency. Their roles in serious crimes such as contract and revenge killings are being investigated. These groups are also involved in the smuggling of drugs and weapons, “hawala” operations and extortions.
These gangs came on the NIA radar following reports that several prisons had become havens of nexus between gangsters and a battleground for rival gangs, resulting in violence. One such incident, in which two inmates were beaten to death, was reported from Punjab’s Goindwal Jail in February this year.
The agency had earlier searched over 370 locations, leading to the seizure of 38 arms, including four lethal weapons, along with 1,129 rounds of ammunition. It has so far frozen 87 bank accounts and attached 13 properties, apart from seizing 331 digital devices, 418 documents and two vehicles. Two of the wanted accused have been notified as “designated individual terrorists” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 15 declared as “Proclaimed Offenders” and Interpol Red Notices issued against nine on the NIA’s request.
