News Analysis India

Tag: NIA

  • Probe into blast near Israel embassy handed over to NIA

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Home Affairs has handed over to the National Investigation Agency the probe into the blast near the Israel embassy here, officials said on Tuesday.

    A minor IED blast took place near the Israeli Embassy in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi on Friday evening.

    No one was injured.

    “The investigation into the blast near the Israeli embassy has been handed over to the NIA,” a home ministry official said.

    Some cars were damaged in the explosion that occurred about 150 metres from the embassy on Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Road in the high-security Lutyens’ bungalow zone.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to convey his strong condemnation of the terror attack and asserted that India will deploy all its resources to find and punish the perpetrators.

    Both leaders, the PMO said, expressed satisfaction about the close coordination between Indian and Israeli security agencies in connection with the blast probe.

    The Israeli foreign ministry said all its diplomats and embassy staff in Delhi are “safe and sound”.

  • Court refuses to pass order on jailed activists Hany Babu, Gautam Navlakha’s plea for books

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A special NIA court has refused to pass any order on the plea of jailed activists Hany Babu and Gautam Navlakha, both accused in the Elghar-Parishad Maoist links case, seeking books from outside the prison.

    Special NIA judge D E Kothalikar recently noted that it would not be just to pass any order as it would be within the province of the jail authority to accept articles for the undertrial prisoners.

    Navlakha and Hany Babu are lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai in connection with the case.

    Last month, their lawyer had claimed that the prison authorities refused to accept the books sent for the activists and was asked to get an order from the court.

    They then moved a plea seeking access to books and magazines from outside the prison.

    The court noted that a statement had been made before it by the advocate that she had approached the superintendent for providing books to the applicant, but was asked to bring an order from the court.

    On perusal of the contents of the present affidavits, it appears that the applicants have taken a somersault and come with the contention that the books were sent to the prison (via courier) and they were refused to be accepted, the court said.

    “It is worthy to be noted here that the prison authority is supposed to take care about the security of the prison…,” it added.

    As per the record, the parcels were returned with an endorsement ‘Covid Suraksha’.

    “In this view of the matter, unless an attempt is made to hand over the books physically to the jail authority and the same is refused to be accepted by it, in my view it would not be just to pass any order as it would be within the province of the jail authority to accept articles for the under trial prisoners, if attempted to be delivered by their relatives or near ones,” it said.

    “Hence, I do not find it fit to pass order on the applications,” the court added.

    Earlier, the court had allowed similar plea of another activist Sudha Bharadwaj.

    The court had directed the jail superintendent to allow Bharadwaj have access to five books a month from outside the prison in central Mumbai.

    Navlakha and Babu, along with other activists, were initially booked by the Pune police after violence erupted near Koregaon Bhima near Pune, a day after an Elgar Parishad conclave was organised.

    Inflammatory speeches and provocative statements made at the Elgar Parishad meet held in Pune city on December 31, 2017, triggered the violence at Koregaon-Bhima the next day, the police had alleged.

    According to the police, the event was “backed” by Maoists.

    The NIA later took over the probe into the case.

  • NIA files chargesheet against 10 terrorists of ‘Shahadat is our Goal’ outfit

    By PTI
    CHENNAI: The NIA on Saturday filed a chargesheet against 10 members of the “Shahadat is our Goal” terrorist organisation in Tamil Nadu for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy of waging a violent jihad, an official said.

    The chargesheet was filed in a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Chennai.

    Sheik Dawood (33) of Tanjavur district, Mohamed Rifas (37), Muparish Ahamed (23), Abubakar Siddiq (24), Hameed Asfar (23) of Ramanathapuram district, Mohamed Rashid (25) of Cuddalore district, Liyakath Ali (30), of Salem district, Ahamed Imithiyas (31), Sajith Ahamed (23), and Rizwan Mohammed (26) of Tiruvarur district in Tamil Nadu have been charged with relevant sections of the IPC, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Arms Act.

    The case was registered in April 2018 under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the UAPA and the Arms Act in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district after the arrest of Mohamed Rifas, Muparish Ahamed and Abupakkar Sithik from Keelakarai, a spokesperson of the NIA said.

    Lethal weapons, including swords, along with pamphlets pertaining to the terrorist gang “Shahadat is our Goal” were seized from their possession, the official said.

    The charge-sheeted accused were radicalised by violent jihadi ideology, the NIA spokesperson said.

    Dawood and Rifas had conspired with the co-accused and organised meetings at various places in Tamil Nadu since Ramadan, 2017, with the intention of radicalising and recruiting the co-accused and others for “shahadat” (getting themselves killed) to establish Islamic rule in India, the NIA official said.

    The accused created various social media groups, especially on WhatsApp, and were disseminating materials advocating violent jihad, including the videos and speeches of the Sri Lankan ISIS leader Zahran Hashim, the official said.

    The accused had also prepared pamphlets titled “Shahadat is our Goal” calling for violent jihad to liberate their associates lodged in prisons, according to the official.

    In furtherance of the conspiracy, accused Dawood and Rifas also attempted to carry out terrorist acts by procuring illegal firearms in order to free their associates lodged in prisons, the NIA official said, adding that further investigation in the case was underway.

  • Farm law stir: British MP raises concern over NIA notices to farmers

    By IANS
    CHANDIGARH: British Labour Party MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has raised the issue of National Investigation Agency (NIA) sending notices to a number of people who are associated with the farmers’ stir in New Delhi.

    Asking a question to the Foreign Minister in the Parliament, Dhesi said more than 100 members of the House of Commons have already signed and sent a cross-party letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson about “our anxieties for the peacefully protesting farmers in India and we await eagerly his response”.

    “It is extremely concerning to hear alarming reports of harassment and intimidation by the authorities there who have started issuing notices to peaceful protesters union leaders and human rights activists,” said Dhesi on Tuesday.

    In reply to Dhesi’s question, Secretary of State for Foreign, Dominic Raab, informed that he understood MP’s concern and had discussed the farmers’ issue with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar when he visited India in December last year.

    Raab added “This is a government-led major reform reducing subsidies as a part of liberalisation process but he makes some important points about freedom of protest and the sensitivity.”

    Earlier, Dhesi sent a letter, signed by over 100 MPs and Lords, to the Prime Minister on the ongoing farmers’ protests, asking him to raise this matter with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi when they next liaise.

    The letter seeks to ensure that the UK Prime Minister reaffirms the importance of the right to peaceful protest internationally, has a full understanding of this important issue and asks him to raise this matter with the Indian Prime Minister, following the cancellation of their meeting in India, planned later this month.

  • Such arm-twisting tactics won’t weaken farmers’ resolve: Amarinder on NIA notices to union leaders

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Monday hit out at the central government over the National Investigation Agency (NIA) issuing notices to some farmer union leaders and those supporting the ongoing agitation against three new farm laws.

    “Do these farmers look like secessionists and terrorists? Such arm-twisting tactics will not weaken the resolve of the farmers to fight for their rights and their future,” the chief minister said, referring to the NIA summons reportedly issued in connection with a case related to the banned Sikhs For Justice outfit.

    The Punjab unit of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) too condemned the issue of notices and said it was “shameful”.

    The chief minister slammed the BJP-led government at the Centre for adopting such “reprehensible and oppressive tactics in their desperation to undermine the peacefully protesting farmers’ fighting spirit”.

    “But these measures will not succeed in destroying the resolve of the farmers, rather the Centre will only end up provoking them into stronger reaction,” he said in a statement here.

    “It is obvious that the BJP-led NDA government neither cared for the farmers and their concerns, nor understood their psyche,” Singh added.

    AAP’s Punjab state president and MP Bhagwant Mann said that it was “highly reprehensible” for the government to use central agencies to suppress the farmers fighting for truth and justice.

    “The (Narendra) Modi government is adopting double standard. On one hand it is negotiating with the farmer organisations to find a solution and on the other hand it is sending notices through NIA to intimidate the farmer leaders and their supporters,” Mann added.

    Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at various border points of Delhi for over 50 days now demanding repeal of the three laws — the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act.

    Enacted in September 2020, the central government has presented these laws as major farm reforms aimed at increasing farmers’ income, but the protesting farmers have raised concerns that these legislations would weaken the minimum support price (MSP) and “mandi” systems and leave them at the mercy of big corporations.

    The government has maintained that these apprehensions are misplaced and has ruled out a repeal of the laws.

  • NIA summons supporters of farmers in terror funding case

    By Express News Service
    CHANDIGARH/NEW DELHI:  After the raids by the I-T department on commission agents in Punjab for supporting the farmers’ protest, the National Investigation Agency has served notices to at least 12 activists who have supported the stir, including Baldev Singh Sirsa, the president of the Lok Bhalai Insaf Welfare Society.

    Sirsa was summoned for questioning on January 17, two days before the tenth round of talks. The anti-terror agency claimed Sirsa had been called as a witness in connection with a terror funding case registered against the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), a banned Khalistani outfit. “A notice has been sent under Sect ion 160 CrPC, which is done for witness summons,” an NIA official said.

    The others who were summoned include Baltej Pannu, a radio and TV journalist working with the US and Canada-based media organisations, activist Jasveer Singh, Jasbir Singh Rode, Balwinder Pal Singh, Sukhpreet Singh Udhoke, Karnail Singh, Mandeep Singh, Paramjit Singh, Ranjit Singh, Surinder Singh, Pardeep Singh, Inderpal Singh Judge, Naresh Kumar and cable TV operator Jaspal Singh.

    “I got a phone call last night from an NIA official, who then sent me a copy of the notice through WhatsApp. I will appear before the NIA officials on November 18. I will also join the tractor march on January 26,” Jasveer said.

    ‘This is harassment of people agitating peacefully’

    But Sirsa said he will not appear before the NIA now because he would be busy in his granddaughter’s wedding and can appear before the agency only after February 7. He claimed the government was trying to pressure the farmers by sending these notices.

    “Centre wants to derail the agitation. But we will continue our struggle for the repealing of the laws. Many people who are associated with the farmers’ agitation have been sent these notices,” Sirsa said. The Punjab Human Rights Organisation said the notice was a violation of human rights and a desecration of the democratic ethos. “This is nothing but harassment of agitating people peacefully for their rights,” it said.

  • Elgar Parishad case: Court allows Sudha Bharadwaj to access books from outside jail

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: A special NIA court has allowed activist Sudha Bharadwaj, an accused in the Elgar Parishad- Maoists links case, to access books from outside Byculla prison, where she is lodged, according to an order made available on Wednesday.

    Special NIA court judge DE Kothalikar allowed a plea of Bharadwaj in this regard on Tuesday.

    The judge directed the jail superintendent to allow Bharadwaj have access to five books a month from outside the prison in central Mumbai.

    Last month Bharadwaj, and co-accused Gautam Navlakha and Delhi University professor Hany Babu had filed separate pleas through their lawyer Chandni Chawla seeking access to books and newspapers from outside prison.

    Navlakha and Babu are lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.

    Thepleas of Babu and Navlakha will be taken up in next hearing.

    “The superintendent shall carefully examine the books and if, they contain objectionable material, which preaches violence, vulgar, obscene, pornographic or the material propagating the banned organisation namely Revolutionary Democratic Front or CPI (Maoist), in that case he shall not allow the applicant to accept such books,” the court said.

    In a related development, academician-activist Anand Teltumbde, also an accused, in his fresh bail plea filed before the court on Tuesday, has said the prosecution theory that he was abetting others to wage war against the government is all “humbug”.

    Teltumbde, along with several other activists, has been booked under provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly having links with the Maoists and conspiring to overthrow the government.

    He has sought bail on the merits of the case.

    Teltumbde,in his bail plea, has given a detailed rebuttal to all the charges levelled against him.

    “Even after the NIA has taken over nothing could be found and thus theory of prosecution that accused are waging war or attempting to wage war or accused is abetting others to wage war or incite the public is all humbug,” Teltumbde said in the bail plea.

    The plea said the applicanthails from a poor family and due to his sheer brilliance and hard work has reached the position he has in Indian society.

    However, casteist forces cannot digest this fact and implicating him in the case is an attempt to belittle his achievements, Teltumbde added.

    The court will hear his plea and other applications related to the case on January 27.

    The court had in July refused to grant “default” bail to Teltumbde (70), who is in jail for nearly nine months now.

    He had sought bail under section 167 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on July 13 after the NIA failed to file a charge-sheet against him within 90 days as mandated under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

    Teltumbde and other activists were initially booked by the Pune police after violence erupted near Koregaon-Bhima, on outskirts of Pune city, a day after an Elgar Parishad conclave was organised.

    Inflammatory speeches and provocative statements made at the Elgar Parishad meet held in Pune on December 31, 2017, triggered the violence at Koregaon-Bhima the next day, the police had alleged.

    According to the police, the event was “backed” by Maoists.

    The NIA later took over the probe into the case.

  • NIA conducts searches in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab in narco-terror case

    By PTI
    JAMMU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted searches at six places in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab in connection with its probe into a narco-terror case.

    The case was registered after the busting of a narco-terror module and seizure of 61-kg heroin and a cache of arms and ammunition along the International Border (IB) here last year.

    The raids were conducted at five locations in Jammu district and one in Tarn Taran in Punjab, leading to the seizure of digital devices and other incriminating documents having financial details and bank account numbers for further scrutiny and analysis, a spokesperson of the NIA said.

    He said the searches were conducted at the residences of six accused — the module’s kingpin Gurpartap Singh of Tarn Taran and his Jammu-based associates Jasraj Singh, Sham Lal, Bishan Dass, Ajeet Kumar and Gurbaksh Singh.

    “All the six accused were arrested for hatching a criminal conspiracy for carrying out anti-national and unlawful activities, and to help the terrorist organisations by collecting funds and channelizing the proceeds of drugs for furthering the activities of such terrorist organisations like Babbar Khalsa International (BKI),” the spokesperson said.

    He said a case under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act was registered at Arnia police station in Jammu district near the International Border on September 20 last year, following the seizure of a huge cache of narcotic substance along with arms and ammunition amid unprovoked firing by Pakistan on a police patrolling team to provide cover for the smuggling activity.

    The NIA re-registered the case on November 26, 2020 and took up the investigation, the spokesperson said.

    In the second week of September, he said, Gurpratap Singh had received 10 kg of heroin from Pakistan-based handlers through his associates.

    The consignment in the instant case was also intended to be received by him to fund the activities of BKI in Punjab, the spokesperson said.

  • CAA protests: Gauhati HC rejects bail petition of Akhil Gogoi 

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI:  The Gauhati High Court on Thursday rejected the bail petition of Krishak Mukti Sangram Parishad (KMSS) and Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi in the case related to his alleged role in violent protests against Citizenship (Amendemnt) Act lodged by the NIA.

    A division bench of the High Court comprising Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Ajit Bathakur rejected the bail petition of Akhil Gogoi.

    Gogoi is lodged in Guwahati Central jail since his arrest in December 2019 for his alleged role in violent anti- Citizenship Amendment Act protests.

    He was arrested on December 12, 2019 as a preventive measure while protests against the CAA in the state raged and resulted in violence at several places.

    Gogoi’s case was later handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

  • NIA files supplementary chargesheet in Hizbul Mujahideen narco-terror case

    By PTI
    JAMMU: The NIA on Tuesday filed a supplementary chargesheet against two alleged narco-terrorists in a case registered last year following the arrest of a Hizbul Mujahideen operative along with Rs 29 lakh from Punjab, a spokesperson of the investigating agency said.

    Earlier, a chargesheet was filed in the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) narco-terror case on October 10 against 10 people, including the slain chief of the Kashmir-based terror group Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo.

    The supplementary chargesheet was filed against narco terrorists Jaswant Singh alias ‘Jassa’ of Gurdaspur and Gursant Singh alias ‘Gora’ of Tarn Taran in the NIA special court in Mohali, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) spokesperson said.

    The accused persons were involved in collection, distribution and selling of heroin smuggled from Pakistan as also in collection and channelisation of proceeds to further activities of the HM, he said.

    “Gora was one of the important members of the terrorist gang and as a close associate of prime accused Iqbal Singh alias ‘Shera’, was responsible for safe movement of heroin and proceeds to various places/unknown persons,” the spokesperson said.

    The investigation has also brought to the fore that he has purchased many immoveable properties to be used as hideouts and luxury cars for transportation of drugs and proceeds, he said.

    The earlier chargesheet was filed against Hilal Ahmed Shergojri of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, Bikram Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Ranjit Singh and Maninder Singh (Amritsar), and Ranjit Singh and Jaswant Singh (Gurdaspur).

    The spokesperson said all have been arrested except Iqbal Singh of Amritsar and Zafar Hussain Bhat, of Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag.

    While Iqbal Singh is absconding, Bhat is hiding in Pakistan, he said.

    The spokesperson said a case was registered at the Sadar Police Station in Amritsar on April 25 last year following the arrest of Shergojri and recovery of Rs 29 lakhs from his possession by the Punjab Police.

    The NIA took up the investigation of the case on May 8 last year.

    During the course of investigation, it emerged that the accused, who had come to Amritsar to collect the money, was a member of proscribed terrorist organization Hizbul Mujahideen and a close associate of Naikoo.

    “This led to busting of a major narco-terror module involved in smuggling and selling of heroin in India and channelising of drug-proceeds to Pakistan through Hawala and to the HM terrorists based in J&K at the behest of HM terrorists based in Pakistan,” the spokesperson said, adding further investigation against the absconding is underway.