In a major crackdown on gangsters, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided six Uttar Pradesh districts – Baghpat, Bareilly, Pratapgarh, Bulandshahr, Lucknow and Pilibhit – on Tuesday.
These gangsters were said to be working in tandem with terrorist groups and drug smugglers based in foreign countries, including Pakistan and Canada.
The raids in Uttar Pradesh were part of a nationwide crackdown on gangsters with raids at 76 locations across eight states on Tuesday. A large cache of arms and ammunition was seized, as also ₹ 2.3 crore.
“In U.P, the raids were carried out at hideouts of accomplices of Sunil Rathi in Baghpat and some hawala operators, kabaddi players, weapons’ suppliers, gun houses, businessmen and their alleged financers,” said a senior NIA official. He said Tuesday’s raids, the fifth in the series of such crackdowns, were conducted in UP, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Three cases have been registered by the NIA since August 2022 and several people, including some Kabbadi players, have been identified and booked for their alleged involvement in terror and other criminal activities, including targeted hits and extortions from leading businessmen and professionals.
Incidentally, the investigations have revealed that conspiracies for several such crimes, including the sensational killing of Maharashtra builder, Sanjay Biyani, and Sandeep Nangal Ambia, an international Kabbadi player, in Punjab last year, were being hatched in the jails of different states and were being executed by an organised network of operatives based abroad.
{{/usCountry}}Incidentally, the investigations have revealed that conspiracies for several such crimes, including the sensational killing of Maharashtra builder, Sanjay Biyani, and Sandeep Nangal Ambia, an international Kabbadi player, in Punjab last year, were being hatched in the jails of different states and were being executed by an organised network of operatives based abroad.
{{/usCountry}}The NIA official said these raids were focused on arms suppliers and hawala operators working with these gangs and led to the recovery of nine illegal weapons, including pistols, revolvers and rifles, and ₹ 2.3 crore. He said incriminating material, including documents, hard drives and mobile phones, were also seized.
The official said the raids were conducted in Abohar, Bhatinda, Muktsar Sahab, Moga, Fazilka, Ludhiana, Mohali, Ferozpur, Tarn Taran, Ludhiana, Faridkot, Sangrur and Jalandhar districts of Punjab; Gurugram, Yamuna Nagar, Rohtak, Mahendragarh, Sirsa and Jhajjar districts of Haryana; Sri Ganga Nagar, Sikar, Jodhpur and Jaipur districts of Rajasthan; Baghpat, Bareilly, Pratapgarh, Bulandshahr, Lucknow and Pilibhit of Uttar Pradesh; Ujjain and Ratlam districts of Madhya Pradesh; Byculla in Mumbai; Gandhidham in Gujarat; and Dwarka, Central and Outer North Districts of Delhi/ NCR. He said similar searches were conducted at the premises of Lakhvir Singh of Gidderbaha at Muktsar, Naresh at Abohar, Surender @ Cheeku at Narnaul in Haryana, Kaushal Choudhary and Amit Dagar at Gurugram.
Investigations have revealed that many criminals, who were leading gangsters in India, had fled to Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia and Australia and were planning crimes from there in association with criminals lodged in jails in different states. These groups were carrying out targeted killings and raising funds for nefarious activities through smuggling of drugs and weapons, hawala transactions and extortions. Further investigations are on to dismantle such terror networks and their funding and support infrastructure.