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NIA chargesheet nails key accused Inderpal Gaba for 2023 attack on Indian High Commission in UK
On March 22, 2023, more than 2,000 pro-Khalistani supporters vandalised the Indian high commission in UK
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday chargesheeted Inderpal Singh Gaba, a key accused in the attack on the Indian high commission in London in 2023.
Gaba, a resident of Hounslow in UK, was arrested by the NIA in the national capital on April 25 this year in connection with the attack on the Indian high commission in London by pro-Khalistani extremists on March 19 and 22 last year.
According to the NIA chargesheet, Gaba is one of the agitators who actively participated in the anti-India protest that took place on March 22 last year in front of the Indian high commission.
On March 22, 2023, more than 2,000 pro-Khalistani supporters vandalised the high commission buildings, throwing articles including ink to deface it. Three days ago, a mob had pulled down the Indian flag in the attack in which some embassy staffers were injured.
The attack was allegedly carried out by UK-based Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) leader Avtar Singh Khanda, who later died in a UK hospital in June last year.
Gaba was detained in December 2023 by the immigration authorities at Attari border on arrival from London via Pakistan, based on the look out circular against him.
According to NIA, the probe was initiated against him and Gaba was asked not to leave the country while the investigation continued. The NIA said it had seized his mobile phone and analysed the data including “several incriminating videos/photos of the incident, and eventually established his involvement in the incident.”
Indian high commission attacked in response to Amritpal Singh's arrest
According to the NIA, the attacks on Indian high commission in UK were carried out against the crackdown on radical Sikh preacher and Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh by the Punjab Police. Singh was arrested nearly a month later by the Punjab Police.
Singh, lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail, won the Lok Sabha election from Punjab's Khadoor Sahib seat by a margin of nearly two lakh votes.
“The violent attack on the High Commission was aimed at furthering and achieving the cause of Khalistan by secession of the state of Punjab from India,” the agency added.
