NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed a supplementary charge sheet in the murder case of a Hindu outfit leader Amit Sharma in Ludhiana in 2017.
Terming the killing as an “act of terrorism” and naming three alleged arms suppliers Ashish Kumar, Javed and Arshad Ali as accused in the case, the NIA claimed that the killing was a conspiracy by Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF).
The charge sheet was filed under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and under various sections of stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), including 16 (punishment for terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy for terrorist act) and 20 (punishment for being member of terrorist organisation).
The final report, filed in a special NIA court in Delhi, also mentioned various offences punishable under the Arms Act. In January 2017, two unknown motorcycle-borne assailants killed Sharma, president of Sri Hindu Takht, as a part of an alleged conspiracy hatched by terrorist outfit KLF.
The murder was one among eight such cases of serial killings or attempted killings that took place in Punjab in 2016-2017 with a view to create communal disturbance, the agency said.
The agency said the accused persons Ashish Kumar, Javed and Arshad Ali, all residents of Meerut, had facilitated other accused persons by supplying illegal fire arms used in the crime.