The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a chargesheet in opposition to 5 suspected Khalistani operatives in a case of arms and narcotics smuggling from throughout the border through drones.
The chargesheet has been filed in opposition to Harmesh Singh, Darvesh Singh, Gurmukh Singh, Gagandeep Singh and Lakhbir Singh Rode — all residents of Punjab.
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“Investigation has revealed that the chargesheeted accused persons had smuggled illegal consignments of arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics from across the India-Pakistan border to carry out terror activities in India,” the NIA mentioned in a press release.
According to the NIA, these unlawful consignments had been despatched by the absconding accused Lakhbir Singh Rode (Chief of ISYF, a banned terrorist organisation) and his associates from Pakistan through drones.
“These consignments were received by co-accused and further discreetly passed on to other accused persons involved in the conspiracy to carry out subversive activities in India. Incriminating evidences have been found against all the chargesheeted accused persons,” the NIA assertion mentioned.
The case was initially registered at Mamdot police station in Punjab’s Ferozepur on August 8 final 12 months. The NIA took over the case in November that 12 months.
Rode, by the way, can be being probed in reference to the 2020 killing of Comrade Balwinder Singh Sandhu in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district.
A Shaurya Chakra recipient for combating militancy in Punjab, Sandhu was gunned down at his dwelling in Tarn Taran’s Bhikhiwind by two unidentified bikers on October 16, 2020. The assault occurred months after the safety cowl of Sandhu (62) was eliminated by the state authorities. Sandhu’s household termed the killing as a terror assault and blamed it on the choice to take away his safety.
“During the initial investigation by the Punjab Police, it was revealed that the killing was executed under a conspiracy hatched by Pakistan-based Khalistani terrorist Lakhbir Singh Rode and his handlers in the Pakistan intelligence agency, ISI. The killing of Comrade Singh was executed through one Sukhmeet Pal Singh alias Sukh Bhikariwal from Gurdaspur district, who is a gangster-turned-terrorist,” the NIA had mentioned in a press release then.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
