In the midst of Canada making baseless allegations against India, which has led to a severe downgrade in diplomatic ties, India is set to widen the scope of its investigation into the activities of the Khalistan elements.
Leading the investigation is the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which has made several breakthroughs in the various cases that it has filed. Top on the list of the NIA is the activities of Sikhs for Justice chief, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun who leads the propaganda arm for the Khalistan elements. The proscribed terrorist, Pannun has both Canada and US citizenships. The NIA has registered 66 cases against him until October 15 this year. The NIA has a good record in these cases with the conviction rate standing at 95.13 per cent.
On Friday, the NIA attached three properties belonging to Pannun in Chandigarh apart from attaching some land in Amritsar linked to the terrorist.
NIA sources tell Organiser that the ambit of the probe will be widened. The cases against him are just not being probed in India, but in other parts of the world as well. Several nations have been helpful when it comes to sharing information. As the case would demand teams of the agency would travel abroad to gather more details on Pannun and his organisation the Sikhs for Justice which has been banned in India, the source further added.
Local links to the larger picture
The pattern of the investigation in these cases would be interesting considering the international ramifications it has. The NIA would cover as much ground in India relating not just to Pannun, but also other Khalistan elements. The agency has been identifying the properties acquired by these persons and also how they have been channeling funds into the system.
The pattern would be very similar to how the NIA and Enforcement Directorate probed the separatists of Kashmir and shut down their network. In addition to identifying the source of funds and seizing properties, the agency would also take the help of the local police to dismantle the in-house networks.
During the Kashmir investigation, the agency identified all the local elements who were helping out terrorists. It was found that businessmen and those in government services were helping out these elements. Once they were identified, the arrests took place. However the final blow to the separatist movement came when the agencies managed to completely freeze their funds.
Another official says that in the Khalistan case too, once the money trail is clear, it would be easy to freeze it. What we have realised in such investigations that at several levels it is money that is driving them rather than their ideology. The ideology is just a bogey to dish out funds, the official added.
Swooping in on the local network would lead the agencies to the international network. In this regard, the NIA has been seizing incriminating material such as digital devices and scanning call records. This will help the agency a great deal to identify the handlers and how people like Pannun have been operating.
Not just Pannun
Pannun may act like the face of the movement, but there are many other players who are underground. While each one’s agenda remains the same, they have intentionally created multiple outfits to confuse the agencies. For instance a Khalistan Zindabad Force and Khalistan Liberation Force have the same agenda and are interconnected. However functioning with different names only adds to the confusion. For instance take the case of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba which is now operation as the The Resistence Front in Jammu And Kashmir.
The National Investigation Agency this week arrested a close aide of Khalistan terrorist Arshdeep Singh Dala alias Arsh Dala. Baljeet Kaur was arrested upon his arrival from the UAE. An official statement by the NIA said that Kaur was the man providing the logistics to the Khalistan Tiger Force. He was also involved in extortions, recruitment of new cadres and also terror funding to the India based associates of Arsh Dala.
This is a significant development as it would help the NIA identify both the local and international networks of the outfit. Kaur has been on the wanted list for long and was planning to unleash terror strikes in Punjab.
In addition to this the NIA has prepared a most wanted list and also shared it with the Interpol. The list of the designated terrorists having links with Canada or living overseas are, Satinderjeet Sinigh alias Goldy Brar, Arshdeep Singh Dala, Lakhbir Singh Landa and Harpreet Uppal.
While these are the main perpetrators, the NIA also has on its wanted list, Jasdeep Singh, Virender Pratap alias Kala Rana, Joginder Singh, Vikramjit Singh alias Vikram Brar, Darman Singh alias Darmaniot Kahlon, Surender Singh alias Chiku, Sunny Dagar, Naveen Dabas alias Naveen Bali, Jagseer Singh alias Jagga, Bhupinder Singh alias Bhupi Rana and Daler Singh.
Nailing Canada
India has reached out to Canada several times seeking the extradition of the most wanted terrorists. The outreach has been both through legal and diplomatic channels, but Canada has remained extremely non-cooperative.
India now plans on building up pressure through its investigations. Based on the probe a water tight case would be built up, following which details would be shared with the international community and the Interpol. This would in turn put pressure on Canada to either act on these elements or extradite them to India. Currently Canada does not acknowledge the problem and New Delhi is hopeful that the case against the elements linked to Canada would build up the pressure on Canada to act.
It must be noted that so far Canada has been extremely non-cooperative. The NIA is yet to receive the death certificate of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The Canadian government according to sources in the NIA has asked for the reason behind this request. Nijjar who was designated as a terrorist by the NIA was killed outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in June last year. He held a Canadian citizenship.
It must be noted that after so many years, India is on the verge of having Mumbai 26/11 attacks planner Tahawwur Hussain Rana extradited to India. This was done on the basis of a very tight investigation by the NIA and the amount of proof sent to the US, which ultimately started to work in India’s favour. India is confident that this would happen in the case of Canada as well.
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