Terrorist-gangster-drug smugglers nexus case: 324 locations in nine states, UTs raided
While NIA alone searched 129 locations, the Punjab police 143 places and the Haryana police raided 52 premises in a simultaneous operation
New Delhi: In a synchronised operation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and police forces of Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday carried out raids at 324 locations across nine states and Union territories as part of a crackdown on the terrorist-gangster-drug smugglers nexus.
The day-long raids focused on weapon suppliers, financiers, logistic providers and hawala operators associated with the hardcore gangs working with drug smugglers and terrorists based out of other countries such as Pakistan and Canada, NIA said in a statement.
While the NIA teams alone searched 129 locations, the Punjab police 143 places and the Haryana police raided 52 premises in a simultaneous operation that began around 5.30 am, the agency said.
The raids covered gangs of Arshdeep Singh alias Arsh Dalla, a designated terrorist based in Canada, besides those of gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Chhenu Pehalwan, Deepak Teetar, Bhupi Rana, Vikash Lagarpuriya, Ashish Choudhary, Gurpreet Sekhon, Dilpreet Baba, Harsimrat Simma and Anuradha, among others, the federal agency said.
“In a massive multi-state operation, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), in coordination with Punjab Police and Haryana Police, on Wednesday raided 324 locations and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition, besides other incriminating material, in the notorious terrorist-gangster-drug smugglers nexus cases,” the NIA statement said.
Searches were conducted in Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh.
During the raids, NIA and police of both states recovered one pistol, assorted ammunition (both live and used cartridges), in addition to 60 mobile phones, five DVRs, 20 SIM cards, one hard disk, one pen drive, and around ₹39 lakh in cash.
“These were the sixth in the series of such crackdowns launched by NIA following the registration of three cases since August 2022 of conspiracies related to targeted killings, terror funding of pro-Khalistan outfits, extortion etc.,” said NIA statement. “Notable among these cases are the sensational killing of Maharashtra builder Sanjay Biyani and international Kabaddi player Sandeep Nangal Ambia in Punjab last year.”
NIA investigations in these cases have revealed that the conspiracies were being hatched in jails of different states and were being executed by an organised network of operatives based abroad.
“The spotlight on these gangs has become sharper after reports of several prisons becoming havens of the deadly nexus and hubs of gang wars, which recently resulted in violence and murder inside Goindwal Sahib Jail and Tihar Jail,” NIA said.
The agency has also claimed to have found that many criminals, who were leading the gangsters in the country, had fled to Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia and Australia, from where they were engaged in planning serious crimes in association with criminals lodged in Indian jails.
“These groups were carrying out targeted killings and raising funds for their nefarious activities through smuggling of drugs and weapons, hawala and extortions,” it said.
Some of the locations raided by the law enforcement agencies on Wednesday include Abohar, Moga, Fazilka, Ludhiana, Mohali, Ferozpur, Tarn Taran, Ludhiana, Amritsar, and Patiala in Punjab; Gurugram, Yamuna Nagar, Ambala, Rohtak, Sirsa, Kurukshetra and Jhajjar districts in Haryana; Sri Ganga Nagar, Churu, Bikaner and Jaipur districts of Rajasthan; Baghpat, Meerut and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh; Bhind and Barwani districts of Madhya Pradesh; besides various locations in Delhi.
Earlier, NIA raided 231 locations in five rounds and seized 38 arms, including four lethal weapons. The central agency has so far frozen 87 bank accounts and attached 13 properties while two absconders have been declared as designated individual terrorists.
A charge sheet filed by NIA in March said that this nexus had established itself like an ecosystem seen in Mumbai in 90s when underworld had links with music and film industry, singers, kabaddi players and lawyers and they carried out targeted killings freely.
