INDIA. Mumbai: The Special NIA Court, Mohali (Punjab) on Wednesday ordered the attachment of the property of an accused, Varinder Singh Chahal, involved in a drug smuggling network run by the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF).
The court order serves as a morale booster to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) engaged in dismantling the Narco-terror network of smugglers and terrorists spread across the border.
The court ordered the attachment of 24 canals, 14 marlas and 04 Sarsai located in Devidaspura in the Amritsar (Rural) district, belonging to Varinder Singh Chahal, involved in the 2019-heroin and drug money seizure case. The attachment was ordered under section 33(1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.
An offence was registered under FIR (RC-03/2020/NIA/DLI dated January 22, 2020) ( original FIR No. May 31, 2019) when 500 gram of heroin and Rs 1.20 lakh in cash was seized from Jagbir Singh Samra along with Varinder Singh Chahal and Harpreet Singh alias Happy.
During the investigations, the NIA came to know that Variender Singh Chahal was a close associate of Dubai-based international smuggler and money launderer Jasmeet Singh Hakimzada and also of Pakistan-based Harmeet Singh alias PhD, a self-styled chief of KLF. He was collecting consignments of drugs from Kashmir drug dealers based on instructions from Hakimzada and Harmeet Singh.
Harmeet Singh has been using money generated from the drug and terror network to strengthen KLF activities in India and also to radicalize vulnerable youth. KLF, a terrorist organization, has been proscribed by the Government of India.
Besides, Hakimzada has been declared a “Significant Foreign Narcotics Trafficker” by the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The department has also imposed financial sanctions against Hakimzada.
Hakimzada and Harmeet Singh have been actively promoting the drug and terror network with the help of hawala operatives based in Punjab, Jammu Kashmir and Delhi, the NIA statement added.
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