NIA raids 10 places in Punjab, Haryana linked to associates of ‘terrorist’ Arshdeep Dalla

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 6

The anti-terror federal probe agency NIA Tuesday said a day after a Mohali special court declared Arshdeep Singh Dalla a Proclaimed Offender (PO) in a targeted killing conspiracy case, the agency conducted raids at several places linked with associates of the Canada-based ‘individual designated terrorist’ in Punjab and Haryana.

The NIA in an official statement said the raids were conducted at 10 locations at the premises of associates of Dalla and his close aide and absconder Manpreet Singh alias Peeta, currently living in the Philippines in a case registered suo moto by the agency on August 20, 2022.

“Several incriminating materials, including digital devices, were seized during today’s raids, conducted as part of NIA’s crackdown on ‘individual terrorists’ and terrorist outfits engaged in criminal/terrorist activities in India. A total of six accused have so far been arrested in the case,” it said.

In the statement the NIA said the case relates to the terror activities of proscribed terrorist organizations including Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF) and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).

“Such activities include smuggling of terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition explosive, IEDs etc. across international borders. The smuggled goods are for use by operatives and members of terror outfits, and organised criminal gangs operating in various parts of the country for carrying out terrorist acts like bomb explosions and targeted killings,” the NIA said.

NIA investigations have revealed that Dala, as well as his associates based in different countries including Manpreet Peeta in the Philippines, are continuously recruiting new cadres in India to carry out the activities of the banned terrorist outfit KTF, the agency said.

They are raising funds for the banned terrorist activities through extortion and other means, and carrying out smuggling of arms, ammunition and explosives from across the border, it said.

Dala was declared a ‘listed terrorist’ under the UAPA in January this year through a notification issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). He is accused of various offences, including targeted killings, attempted murder and extortion for raising funds for terrorist activities.

Dalla was declared a PO in a case relating to a conspiracy to kill a Hindu priest in Jalandhar. Kamaldeep Sharma, the priest at a temple located on the main road of village Bharsinghpur in Phillaur, was attacked on January 31, 2021.

Dalla was a key conspirator in the case, planned by KTF’s self-styled chief Hardeep Nijjar, a native of the priest’s village. Nijjar, currently based in Canada, was also designated as an ‘individual terrorist’ by the MHA in July 2020. He is the head of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, Canada.