NIA attaches 5 properties in Delhi, Haryana in crackdown against gangsters-drug smugglers' nexus

The five properties were attached in connection with NIA's probe into several crime syndicates, which had been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act back in August 2022, the agency said.

New Delhi: In yet another blow to the multi-state networking between criminal elements such as terrorists, gangsters and drug smugglers, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday attached five properties of organised crime syndicates in Delhi and Haryana. The properties attached were found to be 'proceeds of terrorism', which were used for hatching terror conspiracies and execution of crimes, the NIA said.

Agency officials explained that the action comes in the backdrop of recent searches at 76 different locations related to gangsters in various states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi/NCR. Among the five, four properties are in Delhi, and one is in Haryana, as per agency officials.

The operation comes in the wake of NIA's probe into UAPA cases registered back in August, 2022 against three crime syndicates, who had spread their operations in a mafia-like manner in the aforementioned states, and had a role to play in the murders of famous Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, Maharashtra builder Sanjay Biyani and Punjab kabaddi tournament organiser Sanddep Nangal Ambia, as well as extortions from businessmen and commercial establishments.

The properties attached included a house in Delhi belonging to Asif Khan, a criminal accused of providing weapons, logistical backing and shelter to gangsters. It also featured a house and agricultural lands in three separate locations belonging to Surender Singh alias Chiku in Haryana's Mahendragarh district. Singh "is a close associate of Naresh Sethi, Anil Chippi and Raju Basodi, notorious mafia leaders, who were earlier arrested by the NIA" the agency also said.

“The drive to disrupt and dismantle such terror and mafia networks and their support infrastructure and to attach and seize their properties, which have been derived from ‘proceeds of terrorism and crime’ would be intensified in the coming days, along with police forces of various states,” it further added.