Gangster-terror nexus: NIA raids 60 locations in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi NCR

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday carried out simultaneous raids at over 60 locations in Punjab, Haryana and New Delhi, besides a few other places, to crack down on gangsters and crime syndicates.

Some of the locations raided in Punjab were Chandigarh, Fazilka, Faridkot, Muktsar, Moga, Tarn Taran, Amritsar, Ludhiana and Mohali. In Haryana, the raids were conducted in Gurugram, Bhiwani, Yamuna Nagar, Sonepat and Jhajjar. In Rajasthan, the NIA teams raided areas in Hanumangarh and Sri Ganganagar districts.

As per initial NIA reports, six pistols, one revolver, one shotgun, drugs, cash, incriminating documents, digital devices, benami property documents and threat letters were seized during the raids.

The NIA operation comes a day after Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said that the latest arrests in Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala’s murder point to links between gangs in Punjab and terrorists groups operating from Pakistan.

Moosewala was killed on May 29 allegedly at the behest of the incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi through the members of Canada-based Goldy Brar’s gang.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had tasked the NIA to carry out intelligence-led coordinated operations against gangsters across India and their international links. The probe led the investigators to the nexus of cross-border terror operatives with local gangs after the Delhi police special cell registered two FIRs under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against 10 gangsters of the Bishnoi gang, the Bambiha gang and the Neeraj Sehrawat alias Neeraj Bawana gang, which is involved in targeted killings of famous personalities and spreading terror on social media.

As per one of these FIRs, gangsters associated with Bishnoi, Goldy Brar, Vikram Brar, Kala Jathedi, Jasdeep Singh alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, Sachin Thapan, Anmol Bishnoi and Lakhbir Singh Landa ran their operations from different jails in India as well as from Canada, Dubai and Pakistan. The police held that Bishnoi was also associated with absconding terrorist Harvinder Rinda.

The other FIR named Bishnoi’s rival Armenia-based gangster Gaurav Patial alias Lucky Patial, who runs the Bambiha gang since the latter’s death in a police encounter in 2016. This case also names gangsters Amit Dagar and Kaushal Chaudhary, who were allegedly behind the murder of Youth Akali Dal leader Vikramjit Singh Middukhera in Mohali on August 7, 2021, a close friend of Bishnoi.

Some of the places raided included Bishnoi’s native village Dutara Wali in Fazilka, Goldy Brar’s residence on Kotkapura Road in Muktsar, houses of Kaushal Chaudhary and his close aide Amit Dagar and Sandeep alias Bandar, and the house of gangster Lucky Patial in Khuda Lahora village, Chandigarh.

Published on: Monday, September 12, 2022, 09:23 AM IST