NIA crackdown on Khalistani ultras saw 14 arrests in 2024
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has claimed to have achieved a cent per cent conviction rate in 2024, with the conviction of 68 accused in 25 cases and chargesheets against 408 others.
A total of 210 accused were arrested in 80 cases registered by NIA in 2024. Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and Northeast insurgency topped the list with 28 and 18 cases, respectively.
The crackdown on the terrorist-gangster nexus led to the arrest of 14 accused and 101 searches in foreign-based Khalistani terrorist cases. The total searches carried out in all kinds of cases in 2024 stood at 662. Thirteen arrests were made in gangster-related cases.
It chargesheeted Pakistan-based Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) chief Wadhawa Singh, alias Babbar, and five other terrorists in the murder of VHP leader Vikas Prabhakar in Punjab within months of the attack.
Similarly, 10 accused, including terrorist Goldy Brar, were expeditiously chargesheeted in the case pertaining to firing for extortion at the house of a businessman in Chandigarh. NIA also chargesheeted Khalistan Terrorist Force (KTF) members Manpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh after their deportation from the Philippines.
NIA secured the conviction of chief conspirator Kulwinderjeet Singh and three others in a terror conspiracy case related to BKI. Kulwinderjeet was involved in many terrorist cases, including a conspiracy to carry out targeted killings in Punjab. He was also involved in a bomb blast at Connaught Place and a grenade attack at Red Fort, Delhi, in the 1990s.
Tarsem Singh Sandhu of Tarn Taran, Punjab, was successfully extradited from the UAE in a case of conspiracy to wage a war against the country. Of the total 210 arrests, 69 were in LWE-related cases.
A total of 137 properties and assets worth Rs 19.57 crore were attached during the year as part of the agency's sustained efforts to dismantle terrorist, gangster and other criminal networks. Twenty eight cases of LWE were registered, and 12 chargesheets were filed against 64 accused.
Northeast insurgency was also high on NIA's radar with 15 arrests. The Independence Day boycott call by ULFA(I) in Assam saw the arrest of five accused.
Cases of weapons recovery and seizure were reported from across the country. In one of the cases, arms and ammunition and other incriminating materials were seized from a car driver working as an overground worker of the Hizbul Mujahideen. The arrest of 11 Islamic State Jihadis, five J&K Jihadis and 24 other Jihadis marked another major step. A total of 27 absconding criminals were nabbed by NIA during the year.
