NIA files chargesheet in Hizb-ul-Mujahideen narco-terror case

Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Oct 20

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday said it had filed a 14,000-page chargesheet against 10 accused in the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) narco-terror case in a Special Court at Mohali in Punjab.

The accused include Hilal Ahmed Shergojri, Bikram Singh, Maninder Singh, Ranjit Singh, Jaswant Singh, Ranjit Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Iqbal Singh, Zafar Hussain Bhat and Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo.

They have been charged under various sections of IPC, Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Indian Passports Act.

Out of the charge sheeted persons, two accused Iqbal Singh and Zafar Hussain Bhat are absconding while Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo was killed in an operation by the security forces, the NIA said in an official statement.

The NIA took over the investigation in the case on May 8, 2020. The case was initially registered at Sadar police station in Amritsar on April 25 this year following the arrest of one Hilal Ahmed Shergojri and recovery of Rs 29 lakh from his possession by the Punjab Police.

During investigation, it was revealed that Hilal, who had come to Amritsar to collect the amount of Rs 29 lakh, was a member of proscribed terrorist organisation Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and a close associate of Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, the then commander of the terror outfit in Kashmir Valley.

“Hilal’s arrest led to busting of a major narco-terror module involved in smuggling and selling of heroin in India and channelising of drug-proceeds to Pakistan through hawala and to the HM terrorists based in Jammu and Kashmir,” the NIA said in the statement.

Investigation also revealed that the conspiracy was hatched by Pakistan-based HM commanders and their associates and terrorist gangs in Punjab to support and augment the terror infrastructure of HM in India by raising money through drug smuggling, it said.

During investigation, the NIA carried out searches at 15 locations belonging to the suspects and accused in Punjab, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, and so far, Rs 98.5 lakh, eight vehicles and 3 kg of heroin have been seized from them, read the statement. It added that investments worth many crores have also been identified.

The NIA probe also revealed that that the accused had received at least six consignments of heroin through Attari Indo-Pakistan Border in the garb of importing rock salt granules from Pakistan and proceeds of these were partly sent back to Pakistan through hawala operators while a substantial portion was channelised to HM terrorists in J&K through a network of overground workers and other associates.

In July 2019, the sixth consignment of around 532 kg of heroin was seized at Attari border and a separate case was registered, which was investigated and charge sheeted by the NIA, the probe agency said, adding that further investigation in the case has been under progress.

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