New Delhi, June 22 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against a key aide of designated terrorist Lakhbir Singh alias Landa of the banned Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) organisation and dreaded gangster Pavittar Batala in a Punjab terror conspiracy case.
The aide identified as Jatinder Singh alias Joti is a resident of the Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
He was arrested by the NIA from Mumbai on December 23, 2024, in the case RC-21/2023/NIA/DLI.
The NIA had found during the investigation that Jatinder was involved in the illegal procurement and supply of firearms from Madhya Pradesh to Punjab-based gangsters.
According to a press release issued by the agency on Sunday, “Jatinder Singh was facilitating the supply of weapons to ground operatives of Batala, a close associate of Designated Individual Terrorist Lakhbir Singh @ Landa. Batala’s foreign-based associates were coordinating Jatinder’s operations in India. The weapons were being used by Batala’s operatives in Punjab to promote BKI’s criminal-terror activities.”
It was further found during NIA investigations that Jatinder used to procure illegal weapons from a known arms supplier, Baljeet Singh alias Rana Bhai, in Madhya Pradesh. Baljeet had already been arrested and charge-sheeted by the NIA. The accused were using virtual numbers and encrypted applications to avoid detection.
At the time of Jatinder’s arrest in 2024, the NIA had said that this marked a major step forward in its efforts to dismantle the terror-gangster nexus by preventing the smuggling of arms, ammunition, explosives, etc., and raising funds for carrying out terrorist acts on Indian soil.
The NIA is investigating the role of Landa as well as designated terrorist Harwinder Singh, alias Rinda and their foreign-based accomplices in the conspiracy.
The Union Home Ministry has designated Lakhbir Singh Landa, a 34-year-old Canada-based gangster, as a terrorist under the stringent anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Landa was involved in a rocket attack on the Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali in 2021, among other terrorist activities, according to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). He fled to Canada in 2017.
–IANS