NIA Joins Hands With Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh Police To Check On Gangs

Chandigarh: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has decided to establish a collective mechanism with Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh police for a well-coordinated real-time action against the criminal-terror syndicates in the northern region.

According to official information, the decision was taken at a high-level interstate coordination meeting held in Panchkula, near here, on Friday under the chairmanship of NIA director general Dinkar Gupta in which it was decided to set up a "joint listing committee" with the officers from NIA and the three police forces to list out and map the networks of various terror-criminal syndicates in the region.

Enhanced cooperation and information sharing system

Espousing monthly meetings of all the stakeholders on the subject, Gupta also called for an enhanced cooperation and information sharing system among the said agencies. The NIA also shared its information on the activities and modus operandi of criminals operating from inside the jails, especially in regard with three cases it is currently investigating, and called for fast-track trials and robust plans for the witnesses’ protection.

Discussions were also held on the activities of main gang leaders and the members of organised criminal syndicates and groups operating in the northern states, as it was felt that the growing nexus between criminals and gangsters as well as their own conflicts among each other had become a major concern in the region. It was thus also felt that a well-coordinated action by the police forces of different states was required to deal with them effectively.

NIA cases are linked to abroad

Meanwhile, the three cases under investigation by the NIA are said to be linked with Canada-based gangster Lakhbir Singh, Pakistan-based Harvinder Singh Rinda and US-based Gurpatwant Singh Pannu.

The said meeting was attended by Punjab DGP, Gaurav Yadav, Haryana DGP, P K Agrawal, Chandigarh DGP Praveer Ranjan, special DGP (internal security), Punjab, R N Dhoke, ADGP, CID, Haryana, Alok Mittal, ADGP, law and order, Haryana, Mamta Singh and IG, NIA, Vijay Sakhare, beside several senior officers of the police forces and NIA.