A special court for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has ordered forfeiture of the seized properties linked to four aides of Pakistan-based “listed Khalistani terrorist” Harwinder Singh Sandhu aka Rinda.
The NIA seized the Innova car and the cash on March 30 this year. This is the first time the agency had proactively sought the properties of terrorists to be forfeited to the State under Section 26 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after being attached as proceeds of terrorism, it said on Thursday.
Stating that forfeiture of properties was a major new tool in the NIA’s strategy to dismantle the terrorist ecosystem in the country, the agency said it had adopted the approach to squeeze the financial resources of terrorist outfits as well as their operatives and associates.
The NIA has already attached several terrorist-linked assets and the process of their forfeiture is under way in different courts.
In this case, the court has approved the terror agency’s application seeking the forfeiture of the properties, including ₹7.80 lakh in cash and a Toyota Innova car, which were used by the accused for transporting arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics across India.
Also Read | NIA seizes cash, car as ‘proceeds of terrorism’ in Haryana arms recovery case
The Haryana police had, on May 5 last year, seized three improvised explosive devices (IEDs), one pistol with two magazines, 31 rounds of ammunition and ₹1.30 lakh in cash from the four accused, Gurpreet Singh, Amandeep Singh, Parminder Singh, and Bhupinder Singh. They were going to deliver the consignment to someone in Adilabad, Telangana. It had been concealed in a specially designed cavity inside the car.
A case in this regard was registered at Madhubhan police station in Haryana. On May 24, 2022, the NIA took over the investigations and found that the four men had received multiple consignments of arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics, which were sent via drones from Pakistan by Rinda. The supplies were delivered at pre-determined locations near the Indo-Pak border. Accused Gurpreet Singh had made a lot of money by smuggling arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics.
