NIA raids residence of activist Nodeep Kaur

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted a raid at the residence of Dalit labour activist Nodeep Kaur at Gandhar village near here on Friday. The raid lasted for nearly four hours, which was reportedly held in connection with the Lucknow terror conspiracy case.

Nodeep’s brother Rampal, who along with his parents was present at the residence, said, “A team of eight NIA officials entered our house at 5 am and there was my name on the search warrants. I work at an industrial unit at Manesar in Haryana and regularly fight for the rights of labourers. My father runs a shop in Telangana and has come here for a few days. Our family always speaks for the downtrodden and have been active during the Kisan Andolan in Delhi as well. We are regularly being harassed on one pretext or other.”

He added, “The team informed me that the raid was regarding the Lucknow conspiracy. However, we have nothing to do with any such conspiracy. They took away my mobile phone and told me to either appear at Lakhewali police station or Chandigarh for questioning.”

Meanwhile, some villager gathered outside the residence of Nodeep and tried to “gherao” the NIA team and raised slogans as well. However, the team managed to leave from there.

Later, people gathered outside the Lakhewali police station and lodged a protest for over an hour. The dispersed only after the police assured them that the mobile phone would be returned soon.