News Analysis India

Tag: NIA

  • NIA files chargesheet against seven terrorists in case of extortion by Khalistanis in Punjab

    By PTI

    MOHALI: The NIA on Wednesday filed a chargesheet against seven Khalistani terrorists, two of whom are in Canada, for their alleged involvement in threatening businessmen and extortion in Punjab, an official said.

    They were identified as Lovepreet Singh, Kamaljeet Sharma and Arshdeep Singh of Moga, Ram Singh of Ferozepur, Gagandeep Singh of Meerut, Mohammad Asif Ali of Meerut and Hardeep Singh Nijjar of Jalandhar.

    Arshdeep Singh and Hardeep Singh Nijjar are in Canada, an official of the premier investigation agency said.

    The chargesheet has been filed before a special NIA court in Mohali under sections of the IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Arms Act, the official said, adding that charges have been abated against Pankaj Kumar of Faridkot on account of his death.

    This case was registered in May after the Punjab Police received information that Arshdeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh, both currently based abroad, had formed a gang and were threatening and extorting money from businessmen of the state, the official said.

    The NIA took over the case in June and unearthed the conspiracy hatched by Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canada-based self-styled chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and designated terrorist, in collusion with his associate Arshdeep Singh for kidnapping and subsequently killing persons of other faiths to disturb communal harmony in Punjab, the NIA official said.

    Arshdeep Singh was giving directions to members of his terror gang based in Punjab and was arranging weapons for them.

    He was also giving them targets to be eliminated in lieu of money and assurance of visa for living in Canada, the NIA official said, adding that further investigation in the case continues.

  • National Investigation Agency arrests suspected Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh terrorist in Bengal

    By PTI

    KOLKATA: Sleuths of the National Investigation Agency have arrested a suspected terrorist of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district, an official said on Wednesday.

    Acting on a tip-off, a team of NIA personnel conducted a search operation in Subhasgram area and apprehended the Bangladeshi national on Tuesday.

    The man entered India illegally around two years ago and he was picked up ahead of Kali Puja and Diwali festivals to be celebrated on Thursday.

    “He has been involved in a fake identity card racket and has helped some locals get such bogus documents. He has visited several places in the country before he started residing in South 24 Parganas,” the official said.

    Fake voter and Aadhaar cards and several documents related to the terror group were seized from the possession of the man, identified as Abdul Mannan, who is being interrogated.

    The suspected JMB member used forged documents to get a rented accommodation in Subhasgram area and was staying there for the past few months, the official said.

    The suspected JMB ultra, identified as Abdul Mannan, was remanded to NIA custody till November 8 by a special court in Kolkata on Wednesday.

    He had sneaked into India from Bangladesh two years ago, NIA counsel Shyamal Ghosh submitted before the special court judge, seeking his custody for interrogation.

    The accused has links with the four JMB terror operatives arrested in July from Haridevpur area in the southern outskirts of Kolkata, Ghosh told the court.

    Since August 2020, the NIA has arrested 14 militants of the outfit from various states of the country, including West Bengal.

    The JMB, which carried out a terror attack at a popular cafe in Dhaka in 2016, in which 22 people including 17 foreigners were killed, is trying to spread its tentacles in India, the NIA had said in 2019.N

  • Four get death for 2013 Patna serial blasts at PM Narendra Modi’s rally

    By PTI

    PATNA: A special NIA court on Monday awarded death sentence to four of the nine people convicted in the 2013 serial blasts that left six dead here at the venue of an election rally addressed by Narendra Modi, who was then the Gujarat chief minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate.

    Special NIA judge Gurvinder Singh Mehrotra, who had on October 27 pronounced the nine guilty, also sentenced two other accused to life imprisonment, besides awarding 10 years rigorous imprisonment to as many and seven years in jail to another convict.

    According to Special Public Prosecutor Lalan Prasad Singh, who argued on behalf of the NIA, capital punishment has been awarded to Haider Ali, Noman Ansari, Mohd Mujibullah Ansari and Imtiyaz Alam.

    “The court took a grim view of the series of explosions which were aimed at causing heavy casualties at a gathering of innocent people,” Singh told reporters outside the court.

    “Two others — Umar Siddiqui and Azharuddin Qureishi — had confessed to their involvement during trial.

    The court, considering their confession, did not award death sentence to them but only sentenced them for life, he added.

    Notably, five of the convicts — Haider Ali, Mohd Mujibullah Ansari, Imtiyaz Alam, Umar Siddiqui and Azharuddin Ansari — were awarded life imprisonment by the court three years ago in connection with the serial blasts that had rocked the international pilgrim city of Bodh Gaya three months prior to the explosions at Gandhi Maidan in Patna.

    Singh said of the remaining three convicts, Ahmed Husain and Mohd Firoz Aslam have been awarded 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment, while Iftikhar Alam got seven years in jail.

    The NIA had filed charge-sheets against altogether 11 people in connection with the Patna blasts that took place on October 27, 2013 when Modi — then the chief minister of Gujarat — was addressing his maiden public meeting in Bihar.

    One of them was a minor and his matter was referred to the juvenile justice board.

    Another person was acquitted by the court for want of evidence.

    A series of low-intensity blasts and the resultant stampede had left six people dead and scores others injured.

    No terrorist outfit had claimed responsibility for it but it was suspected that banned outfits SIMI and Indian Mujahideen were behind the incident.

    “The NIA argued its case forcefully and cogently. Besides statements of witnesses, electronic evidence was placed on record. It was established that the convicts were involved in the conspiracy which was hatched in Raipur followed by preparing of explosives in Ranchi,” Singh added.

  • National investigation agency files charge sheet against suspected operative of al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The NIA on Friday filed a supplementary charge sheet in a special court here against an alleged operative of the al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) for his involved in a conspiracy for furthering the activities of the banned terrorist organisation in India, an official said.

    Abu Sufiyan of West Bengal’s Murshidabad has been charged under sections of the Explosives Substance Act, an official of the premier investigation agency said.

    The case was registered in September last year against Murshid Hasan and other members of the AQIS module active in Delhi, West Bengal and Kerala who were in the advanced stage of a conspiracy to execute terrorist attacks in different parts of the country, the NIA official said.

    Earlier, a charge sheet was filed against 11 accused, including Sufiyan, under various sections of the IPC, the UA(P) Act and the Arms Act in February.

    Sufiyan was involved in the conspiracy with other co-accused for furthering the activities of AQIS in India, the NIA official said.

    Earlier, during a search conducted at his premises in Murshidabad in 2020, various incriminating materials used for making bombs/IEDs were recovered, the official said.

    He had gathered online the technical know-how about making bombs and purchased raw materials and created a storage dump in his house with the intention of fabricating improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the NIA official said, adding that further investigation in the case underway.

  • NIA opposes Sachin Waze’s house arrest plea in HC, says he may abscond if let out of prison

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has opposed dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze’s plea seeking temporary transfer from the Taloja prison to house arrest in the Bombay High Court saying Waze, being a “highly influential person,” may abscond and “tamper with prosecution witnesses”, if let out of the prison.

    In an affidavit filed before the high court on Tuesday, the NIA said Waze was accused of “serious offences”, including being part of the conspiracy to kill businessman Mansukh Hiran and planting an explosives-laden vehicle near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani in south Mumbai.

    “If any House Arrest (custody) is granted to the petitioner accused, there is every likelihood that said petitioner accused will abscond from the jurisdiction of this Hon’,ble court and will tamper with the prosecution witnesses including the protected witnesses who allegedly were his associates,” the affidavit reads.

    “And it is not difficult for the petitioner accused to figure out who they are, even though the fact is that their identity and addresses are protected since the petitioner accused is a highly influential person in the area of Mumbai,” it reads.

    The affidavit was submitted in response to a plea filed by Waze earlier this month seeking that he be shifted from judicial custody to house arrest for his post-operative care following bypass surgery.

    Waze had requested the court that he be permitted to remain under house arrest till he recovered fully.

    The NIA however, said in the affidavit that Taloja prison in Navi Mumbai had required facilities for Waze’s post-operative care and that if required, he could be taken to the state-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai.

    Waze had sought parity with Elgar Parishad accused Varavara Rao, who had been granted interim medical bail in February this year owing to his advanced age and worsening health.

    The NIA said in its affidavit that Waze’s case was different from that of Rao and while the latter had been granted medical bail, Waze was asking for continuing judicial custody in the form of house arrest.

    A bench of justices Nitin Jamdar and SV Kotwal on Tuesday directed Waze’s counsel, advocate Raunak Naik, to place on record Waze’s post-surgery medical papers.

    The high court also directed the state prison authorities to submit Waze’s latest medical reports.

    It will hear the plea further next month.

  • Mundra Port drug haul: Afghan national remanded in NIA custody for three days

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: A special court here has remanded an Afghan national in the NIA’s custody for three days in connection with a case pertaining to the seizure of 2,988 kg of drugs at the Mundra Port in Gujarat last month.

    Mohammed Khan, an accused in the Rs 21,000-crore heroin seizure case, was on Monday sent in the NIA’s custody by special judge Shubhada Baxi, after he was brought here from Patiala on a transit warrant.

    The special NIA court granted three-day remand of Khan to the National Investigation Agency, as against four days sought by it.

    Earlier, on October 18, the court had sent three accused in the case to the NIA’s custody for 10 days.

    The three accused included M Sudhakaran and Durga Vaishali, who allegedly ran the Vijayawada-registered M/s Aashi Trading Company which had imported a consignment of ‘talc stones’, and Rajkumar P.

    “Khan’s name was revealed during the investigation into the case, and a lookout notice was issued against him. He was detained by authorities at the Delhi airport while he was trying to escape from the country, and was handed over to the NIA and taken to Patiala,” said Amit Nair, the special public prosecutor for the NIA.

    The case relates to the seizure of heroin, disguised as a consignment of semi-processed talc stones originating from Afghanistan, which had arrived at the Mundra Port from Bandar Abbas Port in Iran.

    The case was initially investigated by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.

    The Union Ministry of Home Affairs later transferred the investigation into the case to the NIA.

    The accused have also been booked under provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and the NIA is conducting a probe to unearth a larger conspiracy behind the seizure.

    On September 13, the DRI detained two containers that had arrived at the Mundra Port from Kandahar in Afghanistan via Bandar Abbas Port of Iran.

    The declaration accompanying the containers claimed they contained “semi-processed talc stones”.

    On September 17 and 19, the DRI established that the two containers, in fact, contained heroin which was concealed in “the lower layers” of “jumbo bags” topped with talc stones.

  • NIA arrests ISIS operative in Islamic State conspiracy case

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The NIA has arrested an alleged Islamic State terrorist for allegedly radicalising and recruiting gullible Muslims and sending them to Syria to join ISIS, an official said on Sunday.

    Muhammad Tauqir Mahmood (33) of Bengaluru was arrested on Saturday, the official of the premier investigation agency said.

    The case was registered under sections of the IPC, the UA (P) Act against Mahmood, Zuhab Hameed, Irfan Nasir and Mohd Shihab for having affiliation with the banned terrorist organisations ISIS/ISIL/Daesh, the official said.

    During investigation, the NIA had earlier arrested two accused — Ahamed Abdul Cader and Irfan Nasir who were charge-sheeted in April, the NIA official said.

    Mahmood, in association with co-accused persons, had raised funds, radicalised and recruited gullible Muslim youth of a Quran Circle group and illegally sent them to Syria to join ISIS, the official said.

    In 2013, Mahmood along with his associates had also visited Syria illegally to liaise with the ISIS leadership and offered support from Indian Muslims, the NIA official said, adding that further investigation in the case continues.

  • Eight terror operatives arrested by NIA during multiple raids in Jammu and Kashmir

    By PTI

    SRINAGAR: Eight operatives of various proscribed terror organisations were arrested Friday during multiple searches spread across six districts of Jammu and Kashmir in connection with a terrorism conspiracy case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said.

    The searches were carried out at 10 locations in Srinagar, Kulgam, Shopian, Pulwama, Anantnag and Baramulla districts, which also led to the seizure of electronic devices and incriminating ‘Jihadi’ (holy war) documents and posters, an agency official said.

    With this, a total of 21 accused people have been arrested in connection with the terrorism conspiracy case which was registered on October 10.

    The official identified the arrested persons as Adil Ahmad War, Manan Gulzar Dar, Sobhia and Zamin Adil of Srinagar, Hilal Ahmad Dar and Shaqib Bashir of Kupwara, Rouf Bhatt of Anantnag and Haris Nisar Langoo.

    “The eight accused persons arrested are terror operatives of various proscribed terrorist organisations and have been instrumental in providing logistical and material support to terrorists,” the NIA official said.

    He said the case relates to the conspiracy for undertaking violent terrorist acts in J&K and other major cities by cadres of proscribed terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al Badr and their affiliates such as the Resistance Front (TRF) and People Against Fascist Forces (PAFF).

    “Further investigation in the case continues,” the NIA said.

    On October 13, the NIA said nine terror associates were arrested during two days of searches at 18 locations in different districts of Kashmir following the registration of the case.

    Four more suspected persons were arrested during searches at 11 locations in the valley on October 20.

  • NIA conducts searches in Jammu and Kashmir, arrests 4 terror associates in terrorism conspiracy

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The NIA on Wednesday conducted searches at multiple locations in four districts of Jammu and Kashmir and arrested four alleged terror associates in connection with a terrorism conspiracy case, an official said.

    The searches were carried out at 11 locations in Srinagar, Pulwama, Kulgam and Baramulla districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

    Suhail Ahmad Thokar of Kulgam; Kamran Ashraf Reshi, Rayid Bashir and Hanan Gulzar Dar from Srinagar, have been arrested by the premier investigation agency, the NIA official said.

    The case relates to conspiracy for undertaking violent terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir along with other major cities by cadres of the proscribed terrorist organisations Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Al Badr and similar other outfits and their affiliates including The Resistance Front (TRF), People Against Fascist Forces (PAFF) among others, the NIA official said.

    The National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered the case on October 10 and has so far arrested nine accused.

    The searches have led to the recovery and seizure of electronic devices and incriminating jehadi documents/ Posters among others, the official said.

    The four accused are terror associates/OGWs (Over Ground Workers) of various proscribed terrorist organisations and have been providing logistical and material support to terrorists, the NIA official said, adding that further investigation in the case continues.

  • Mundra port heroin seizure: NIA seizes ‘talc mixed with drugs’ after raid

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The NIA on Wednesday seized what is understood to be talc mixed with narcotics during a raid at a godown here in connection with its probe related to the recent seizure of 2,988 kg of heroin at Gujarat’s Mundra port.

    The search, according to the agency, was carried out a building located in the Nebsarai area of the national capital.

    “…white powder material, suspected to be talc mixed with narcotics, has been seized with the help of the FSL (forensic science laboratory),” a National Investigation Agency (NIA) spokesperson said.

    The agency had carried out similar searches in the Mundra heroin seizure case twice earlier.

    The NIA early this month took over the case from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on the directions of the Union home ministry and registered a criminal complaint under sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

    The case relates to the seizure of 2,988.21 kg of narcotic substance heroin — at the Mundra port and the involvement of foreign nationals in the procurement and delivery of the consignment, an NIA official had said.

    On September 13, the DRI detained two containers that had arrived at Mundra Port from Kandahar in Afghanistan through the Bandar Abbas port of Iran.

    The declaration accompanying the containers claimed they had “semi-processed talc stones”.

    However, a thorough examination established that the two containers in fact contained 2,988 kg of heroin worth Rs 21,000 crore, which was concealed in “the lower layers” of “jumbo bags” topped with talc stones, an official release had said.

    The DRI had arrested eight persons, including five foreign nationals, in connection with the seizure of the drugs.

    Searches were then conducted by the NIA in Chennai, Coimbatore and Vijayawada at premises of the accused.