NIA conducts raids in Punjab and Haryana on the premises of fugitive Arshdeep Dala's associates

Raids were conducted by the NIA officials on the premises of Canada-based terrorist Arshdeep Singh Dala's associates on Tuesday. These raids were conducted in Punjab and Haryana.

New Delhi: A day after the NIA’s Mohali Special Court declared Arshdeep Singh Dala, a proclaimed offender in a targeted killing conspiracy case, the agency on Tuesday raided several premises, connected with associates of the Canada-based "individual designated terrorist" in Punjab and Haryana.

The agency sources said that the searches were conducted at 10 locations on the premises of associates of Dala and his close aide and absconder, Manpreet Singh alias Peeta, currently living in the Philippines in a case registered suo motu by NIA on August 20, 2022.

Several incriminating materials, including digital devices, were seized during today’s raids, conducted as part of NIA's crackdown on ‘individual terrorists’ and terrorist outfits engaged in criminal/terrorist activities in India. A total of six accused have so far been arrested in the case.

The case (RC 37/2022/NIA/DLI) relates to the terror activities of proscribed outfits such as Khalistan Liberation Force, Babbar Khalsa International, International Sikh Youth Federation and Khalistan Tiger Force. Such activities include the smuggling of arms, ammunition, explosives and IEDs across international borders. The smuggled goods are for use by operatives/members of terror outfits and organised criminal gangs operating in various parts of the country for carrying out terrorist acts like bomb explosions and targeted killings.

NIA investigations have revealed that Dala, as well as his associates based in different countries, including Manpreet Peeta in the Philippines, are continuously recruiting new cadres in India to carry out the activities of the banned terror organisation Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). They are raising funds for the organisation through extortion and other means, and carrying out smuggling of arms, ammunition and explosives from across the border.

Dala was declared a ‘listed terrorist’ under the UAPA in January this year through a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. He is accused of various offences, including targeted killings, attempted murder and extortion for raising funds for terrorist activities.

The raids came a day after Dala has been declared a proclaimed offender in a case relating to a conspiracy to kill a Hindu priest at Jalandhar, Punjab. Kamaldeep Sharma, a priest at a temple located on the main road of the village Bharsinghpur in Phillaur, was attacked on January 31, 2021.

Dala was a key conspirator in the case, planned by KTF’s self-styled chief Hardeep Nijjar, a native of the priest’s village. Nijjar, currently based in Canada, was also designated as an ‘individual terrorist’ by the Home Ministry in July 2020.

Nijjar, who is the head and president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, Canada, has been proactively involved in recruiting, training, financing and operationalising pro-Khalistan terrorist modules for spreading terror in India. He is involved in giving inflammatory and hateful speeches through social media platforms. The NIA has attached Nijjar’s property in the same village in another case.

It was on the directions of Nijjar, who is associated with the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), too, that Dala had recruited Kamaljeet Sharma and Ram Singh, the two assailants of the priest. Dala was also arranging weapons for the shooters and sending terror funds through various MTSS channels, besides extorting funds from various business entities in Punjab. He was engaged in promoting terror activities of the proscribed KTF, which is also involved in kidnapping and killing people of other faiths.