In a chargesheet filed against listed terrorists Arshdeep Dalla, Lakhbir Singh Landa, and Harinder Singh Rinda, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had in the chargesheet referred to Hardeep Singh Nijjar as a “global terrorist.” This is particularly significant since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had, two weeks ago, levelled allegations against the Indian government, charging that New Delhi was involved in Nijjar’s killing on Canadian soil.
Meanwhile, Dalla, who hails from Punjab’s Moga, is a fugitive who runs several modules of a terrorist-gangster network—the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF)—from Canada. Landa, one of his associates, also operates from there. The two have been found to be close coordinators with Harinder Singh Rinda who is a leader of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a terror outfit that is based in Pakistan.
All three have been declared as “listed terrorists” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, also known as the UAPA. Additionally, the Interpol has issued a Red Notice against each of these terrorists. All three have a Rs 10 lakh bounty over their heads, issued by the NIA.
This explosive chargesheet was filed by NIA two months ago—a month after Nijjar was killed in Surrey in Canada’s British Columbia region. It is the first time that India’s premier anti-terror federal probe agency has, in no uncertain terms, referred to Nijjar as a terrorist of the highest level.
TRANSCRIPT OF THE CHARGESHEET
“The Global Terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Arshdeep Singh [alias] Arsh and others formed a terrorist gang and recruited Lovepreet Singh [alias] Ravi, Ram Singh [alias] Sona, Gagandeep Singh [alias] Gagga and Kamaljeet Sharma [alias] Kamal. They conspired to kidnap and kill individuals [belonging to] other faiths to create a sense of fear and disaffection among different sections of society in the state of Punjab. Investigations have revealed that Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Arshdeep Singh lured the above shooters to commit terror acts in return for arranging visas, splendid jobs, and handsome earnings for them in Canada. Initially, they were motivated for threatening and extorting money from businessmen in Punjab and subsequently, they were radicalised and motivated for carrying out terrorist acts of killing persons of other faiths.”
The above passage, taken from the NIA’s chargesheet, makes it clear that Nijjar and Dalla were the primary acting forces and instigators of the terror activities and violence carried out in India.
“Accused Arshdeep Singh [alias] Arsh [alias] Prabh (A-1 in present investigation), in association with Hardeep Singh Nijjar who also is a designated terrorist, was facilitating the members of terror gang by providing details of targets, arranging weapons, sending terror funds through various MTSS channels and also raising funds through extortion to strengthen the terror activities of KTF. The investigation has further revealed that the major part of extorted money from the victims was channelised to Arshdeep Singh in Canada through hawala operators.”
The chargesheet goes on to state that In the recent crime plots, it was their “conspiracy…to threaten the unity, integrity and security (including economic security) and sovereignty of India by generating terror funds through extortion in India and transfer them through hawala to Canada. Majority of these funds used for the terror activities of KTF.”
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
Following intelligence reports and tip-offs, an analysis of the Facebook post made by Arshdeep Dalla was done by central intelligence agencies and NIA last year. Investigative agencies had an eye on Dalla’s anti-India activities and his involvement in the formation of terror modules across the state of Punjab at least since 2020.
Notably, the surveillance of Dalla’s social media presence was a result of “rumours” that were spread to suggest that Harinder Singh Rinda had died due to “prolonged illness” in Pakistan.
Upon further investigation, it was revealed that this “fake news” was spread by Arshdeep Dalla who had used a VPN service and disposable handsets that were manufactured in the Philippines. Dalla’s associates based in India and abroad quickly spread this “misinformation” across various social media platforms. This is pertinent because Rinda is among one of the most-wanted terrorists in India and is the chief of the Babbar Khalsa International. He is presently a fugitive hiding in Pakistan. Last year Interpol issued a Red Notice against him.
In the sensational killing of Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri in Amritsar, last November, Lakhbir Singh Landa immediately claimed responsibility for the brutal crime. Suri’s murder was caught on camera.
Lakhbir Singh Landa used a VPN service to hide his tracks. The IP address consequently bounced from Hong Kong to Japan to France. Central Agencies finally tracked it to Canada. This proved Landa used advanced technology and his tech-savvy to cover his tracks and hide from investigators. The NIA has now solid evidence to show that Gangster turned terrorist operates from Canada
OTHER ASSOCIATES
The chargesheet also mentions other members of this terror syndicate. The text reads: “…a criminal conspiracy, hatched by the members of a criminal syndicate/gang snamely (i) Gaurav Patyal @ Sourav Thakur @ Lucky, , (ii) Sukhdool Singh @ Sukh Duneke, S/o Naib Singh (iii) Gurpinder Singh @ Baba Dala, S/o Surjit Singh (iv) Kaushal @Naresh Choudhary, S/o Nand Kishore (v) Neeraj Sehrawat @ Neeraj Bawana, S/o Prem Singh (vi) Sunil Balyan @Tillu Tajpuria, S/o Jagpal Singh (vii) Amit Dagar S/o Gyan Singh (viii) Bhupinder Singh @ Bhp Rana S/o Karam Singh and their associates, based in India & abroad, to carry out terrorist acts in Delhi & other parts of the country.”
They had, according to the NIA, conspired to recruit youths to commit terrorist acts in India with an intention “to strike terror in the minds of people”. These gang members along with their other associates were planning to carry out terror activities in Delhi and different parts of the country by executing targeted killings, using lethal firearms and explosives. The aforementioned terrorist gang leaders/members were using cyberspace and social media to publicise these crimes to create widespread terror amongst the public at large. Some of the gang leaders/members are operating from jail and others are absconding and operating from different parts of India and foreign countries.