NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday arrested two ‘wanted’ close associates of Canada-based ‘listed terrorist’ Arsh Dhalla after they arrived at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here in the national capital.
The duo came from Manila, Philippines, where they have been living, officials said. The duo, identified as Amritpal Singh alias Ammy and Amrik Singh, both hailing from Punjab, were nabbed in an early morning operation by the NIA, whose team was waiting at the airport for their flight to land.
The accused had non-bailable arrest warrants issued against them by the NIA Delhi Court in a case related to the unlawful and violent activities of banned organisations in India, said the NIA. They also have several criminal cases registered against them in Punjab, said the central anti-terror agency, adding that it had registered a suo motu case on August 20 last year under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967.
The NIA investigations have revealed that the accused had entered into a criminal conspiracy to raise funds for the banned terrorist organization Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), and also smuggle arms, ammunition and explosives for it from across the border. “The accused had been working for individual designated terrorist Arshdeep Singh Dhalla to promote violent criminal activities of the KTF in India,” added the NIA.
“In association with another notorious wanted accused, Manpreet Singh alias Peeta, they had been involved in smuggling weapons from Pakistan and recruitment of youth to carry out acts of violence and terror in the country at the behest of the KTF, said the NIA. “They were also part of an extortion racket for raising funds for the banned outfit. The accused used to identify extortion targets, including businessmen, and then threaten them into parting with huge amounts”, said the agency.
“In case the identified targets refused, their homes and other premises would be fired at by the accused’s India-based associates”, added the agency. The arrests were part of NIA’s continuous crackdown on individual terrorists and terrorist outfits engaged in a criminal conspiracy to smuggle terrorist hardware such as arms, ammunition and explosives, and raise funds for carrying out terrorist acts on Indian soil. (ANI)