Gangster-terrorist nexus cases: NIA attaches five more properties in Delhi, Haryana

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) attached five more properties in Delhi and Haryana on Tuesday, stepping up its crackdown on terrorist-gangster-drug smuggler networks. The five properties are owned by members of organised crime syndicates operating in the northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi, four of which are in Haryana and one in Delhi.

The NIA’s action followed investigations into three major organised crime syndicates and gangs run by Harvinder Rinda, Lawrence Bishnoi, and the Bambiha group in Pakistan.

According to the NIA, the properties attached on Tuesday were acquired with funds generated from various types of terrorist and criminal extortion activities and were thus ‘proceeds of terrorism,’ as they were used for hatching terror conspiracies and committing crimes.

The houses of Chhotu Ram at Chautala in Sirsa district in Haryana, Jagseer Singh at Takhatmal in Sirsa district, Virender Singh in Yamuna Nagar district in Haryana, and Raju at Basaudi in Sonipat district in Haryana and Satyawan Sehrawat at Dariyapur in Delhi were attached in action earlier in the day.

The NIA’s action on Tuesday, according to the agency, has impacted the network’s weapons supply chain. According to the NIA, Virender alias Kala Rana, Chhotu Ram alias Bhat, and Jagseer Singh alias Jagga used to provide weapons and logistics, including safe havens, to gang members.

According to the NIA, Satyawan alias Sonu and Raju alias Mota also harboured gangsters, and “they had a major role to play in the generation of funds to support the operations of terror-crime syndicates.”

According to the agency, Raju alias Mota laundered the money by investing the ‘proceeds of terrorism’ in real estate and other businesses, including spirits.

Since August 2022, the NIA has conducted over 230 raids and searches in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Delhi and NCR, apprehended 27 gangster leaders, recovered approximately 38 weapons, and frozen 87 bank accounts.

Furthermore, Arsh Dalla of Canada and Harvinder Rinda of Pakistan have recently been designated as ‘terrorists’ by the MHA under UAPA.

“The drive to choke these organized crime networks of funding and to dismantle their ecosystem by attaching and seizing their properties, derived from ‘proceeds of terrorism and crime’ would be intensified in the coming days, along with police forces of various states,” added the NIA.