INDIA. Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday filed a fresh charge sheet against jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar, the alleged masterminds in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, and a dozen others, charging them with criminal conspiracy to unleash a wave of terror and carry out targeted killings of high-profile people.
A prosecution complaint has been filed against these gangsters who had “links” with the proscribed Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) and several other pro-Khalistan terrorist outfits, the NIA statement read.
The charge sheet came in the second of the three terror-gangster nexus cases that are being investigated by the NIA. This brings the total number of accused charged by the NIA in this case to 26.
All 14 defendants have been charged with criminal conspiracy to spread terror and carry out targeted killings of well-known social and religious leaders, movie stars, singers, and businessmen. “In addition to having links with conspirators in Pakistan, the accused were in contact with pro-Khalistan elements in Canada, Nepal, and other countries,” the NIA stated.
Apart from Bishnoi and Brar (alias Satwinderjeet Singh), the other accused who were charge-sheeted were Jagdeep Singh alias Jaggu Bhagwanpuriya, Sachin Thapan alias Sachin Bishnoi, Anmol Bishnoi alias Bhanu, Vikramjeet Singh alias Vikram Brar, Sandeep Jhanjariya alias Kala Jatheri, Virender Pratap Singh alias Kala Rana, Joginder Singh, Rajesh Kumar alias Raju Mota, Raj Kumar alias Raju/Raju Basodi, Anil alias Chippi, Naresh Yadav alias Seth, and Shahbaaz Ansari alias Shahbaaz.
Bishnoi is still in jail after being arrested in 2015. He and Goldy Brar, who is from Canada and is accused of killing “Dera Sacha Sauda” follower Pradeep Kumar at Faridkot (Punjab) in November 2022, have been running their terror-crime ring from prisons in different states.
“The Lawrence Bishnoi terror-crime-extortion syndicate was also responsible for providing killers for the RPG attack case on Punjab state intelligence headquarters at Mohali, which was carried out on directions of Harwinder Singh alias Rinda, a Pakistan-based BKI terrorist,” the NIA said.
Brar was found to have “direct links” with Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, another BKI operative working closely with Rinda. Landa is also an accused in the Mohali RPG attack, as well as the December 2022 RPG attack on police station Sirhali in the Tarn Taran district (Amritsar) of Punjab.
The NIA has earlier carried out raids and seized a huge cache of nine illegal and sophisticated weapons, 14 magazines, 298 rounds of ammunition, 183 digital devices, and other “incriminating” material at 74 locations in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Chandigarh, and Delhi. The NIA also examined around 70 members of different organised crime support networks during its investigations.
“Seven LOCs (look out circulars) and 5 NBWs (non-bailable warrants) have so far been issued, 7 immovable properties were attached/seized and 62 bank accounts were frozen under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA),” the NIA stated.
On March 21, the NIA filed its first charge sheet against 12 accused in the terror-gangster nexus cases under investigation. The accused in that case were Arsh Dala, Gaurav Patyal, Sukhpreet Buddha, Kaushal Choudhary, Amit Dagar, Naveen Bali, Chhotu Bhat, Asif Khan, Jagga Takhatmal, Tillu Tajpuria, Bhupi Rana, and Sandeep Bandar. “The charge sheet exposes linkages between members of criminal syndicates and drug smugglers and BKI and other pro-Khalistani outfits,” the NIA stated.
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