Chandigarh: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday nabbed an aide of Khalistani terrorist Arshdeep Dalla alias Arsh Dalla besides several other suspects during its simultaneous raids across Punjab.
According to information, one Yunus alias Zora, an aide of gangster-turned-terrorist Dalla was arrested from Punjab’s border district of Ferozepur. The NIA which had got the details of chats and calls between Dalla and Zora was on the lookout for him. He was caught from Macchi Mandi in Ferozepur in the wee hours.
Around 30 locations raided across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh
Stating that several of other suspects were also detained from different parts of Punjab, sources in NIA said that some of the total about 30 locations where raids were conducted included Amritsar, Moga, Fazilka , Ludhiana, Mohali, Faridkot, Barnala, Bhatinda, Ferozepur and Jalandhar districts of Punjab, Rohtak, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Faridabad districts of Haryana and UT Chandigarh.
Besides Khalistani terrorist Dalla, others under the NIA scanner in these raids were notorious gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Sukha Duneke, Harry Maur, Narender alias Lali, Kala Jatheri and Deepak Tinu.
The NIA crackdown targeted terrorists as well as gangsters and individual terror outfits conspiring to smuggle arms and ammunition to carry out terror acts. It was also zeroing in on the gangsters having links with the designated terrorist Dalla who conspired to raise funds for banned outfit - Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). Dalla, who was said to be based in Canada, had been commissioning terror acts, promoting violence and a large-scale extortion racket in India on behalf of KTF, for the past about four years.
Cache of incriminating material seized from 6 states
Meanwhile, according to information, a total of 53 locations were raided during the day-long operation, which started early this morning in which pistols, ammunition, large numbers of digital devices and incriminating material, were seized during the raids that spanned the six states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, UP, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh.
These were the seventh in the series of such crackdowns launched by NIA following the registration of five cases since August 2022, including the two new cases registered against organised criminal gangs in July 2023. The cases relate to conspiracies of targeted killings, terror funding of pro-Khalistan outfits and extortion by the gangsters, many of whom are lodged in various jails or are operating from various foreign countries, including Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia, Portugal and Australia, besides other countries.
NIA cracks down on terror-gangster-drug smuggler nexus
The focus of Wednesday’s raids, aimed at dismantling the terror-gangster-drug smuggler nexus, and on the weapon suppliers, financiers and logistics providers associated with various hardcore gangs and their operatives.
The NIA investigations have revealed that the conspiracies under investigation were being hatched in jails of different states and were being executed by an organised network of operatives based abroad. Notable among such conspiracies were the sensational killing of Maharashtra builder Sanjay Biyani, mining trader Mehal Singh and international Kabaddi player Sandeep Nangal Ambia in Punjab last year.
