Terrorist-gangster-smuggler nexus: NIA raids 51 places across 6 states in 3 cases

New Delhi [India]: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted searches at 51 locations in three separate cases linked to the terrorist-gangster-smuggler nexus.

The raids were conducted simultaneously at the premises and suspected locations of the associates of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, Bambiha and individual ‘listed terrorist’ Arshdeep Singh Dala gangs.

As per NIA, the raids are still underway in three cases (RC 37/2022/NIA/DLI, RC 39/2022/NIA/DLI and RC 22/2023/NIA/DLI).

As per agency sources, the raids are being carried out at nearly 30 locations in Punjab as well as the remaining locations in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

Separate NIA teams started raids early Wednesday morning in close coordination with state police forces.

The NIA had registered a suo moto case (RC-37/2022/NIA/DLI) on August 20, 2022, under various sections of the IPC and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in connection with the terror activities of banned terrorist organisations in India.

The agency has been cracking down on individual terrorist outfits and terrorists conspiring to smuggle terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition and explosives and raising funds for carrying out terrorist acts in India.

The NIA investigations in the case had revealed that several gangsters having nexus with individual ‘listed terrorist’ Arshdeep Singh Dala had entered into a criminal conspiracy to raise funds for Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), a banned terrorist organisation. They were also engaged in smuggling of arms, ammunition and explosives for the KTF from across the border.

Dala who has been operating from Canada for the last 3-4 years and has had many terrorist killings in Punjab over the last few years.

He has been guiding and commissioning terrorist acts and also promoting terror, violence and large-scale extortion in India on behalf of the KTF.

Other two cases (RC 39/2022/NIA/DLI and RC 22/2023/NIA/DLI) are also linked to gangster-terror nexus naming gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, Goly Brar, Vikram Brar and others in which the accused are charged for assisting and facilitating different gang in targetted killings and extortions in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. NIA has so far arrested 16 persons in the terror gangster conspiracy case.

Further investigations into the conspiracy are continuing as part of NIA’s efforts to destroy the growing nexus between terrorists, gangsters and drug smugglers, and to dismantle their infrastructure, including funding channels.