NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted searches at over 50 locations in Punjab, Haryana, UP, Rajasthan and Delhi-NCR in its attempt to dismantle the nexus between terrorists, gangsters and drug smugglers based in India and abroad. NIA sources said the crackdown is a part of the ongoing investigations that revealed that such criminal acts were not isolated incidents.
“There is a deep-rooted conspiracy by terrorists, gangsters and drug smuggling cartels and networks operating from both within and outside the country. Many gang leaders and members had fled India and were now operating from Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia, and Australia.
Two persons, including a lawyer, were arrested, reports said, adding advocate Asif Khan, a resident of Delhi, and Rajesh alias ‘Raju Mota’ of Haryana were arrested during the raids. In Punjab’s Bathinda, the raids were conducted at the residences of advocate Gurpreet Singh Sidhu, Kabaddi promoter Jagga Jandian and alleged gangster Jaman Singh, police sources said.
A Patna report said NIA officials conducted searches at different hideouts of Popular Front of India (PFI) activists in Patna for their links with anti-national activities. The raiding team also carried out raids at the house of Danish, who was accused of operating through a WhatsApp group named ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind.’
An NIA official said the raids were undertaken after recent extortion calls by criminal syndicates and gangsters to businessmen and professionals, including doctors, had created a widespread scare among the people.