Patiala/Gurugram/New Delhi. In a crackdown against those involved in the attack on the Indian high commission in London, the National Investigation Agency on Tuesday raided 31 locations in Punjab and Haryana to unravel the full contours of the conspiracy and bring to book the culprits.
The Indian chapter of the controversial UK-based NGO Khalsa Aid found themselves under scrutiny as the NIA carried out raids on affiliated premises. The coordinated operations took place in Rishi Colony and a residence at Shera Wala Gate in Patiala, Punjab. Commencing at 6 AM, the raids persisted until the afternoon hours.
Simultaneous raids were conducted in the morning at Moga, Barnala, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Tarn Taran, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur, SBS Nagar, Amritsar, Muktsar, Sangrur, Patiala and Mohali districts in Punjab and Sirsa in Haryana, a spokesperson of the NIA said.
The high commission of India in London was attacked on March 19 by pro-Khalistan activists. They committed criminal trespass, injured officials, disrespected the Indian flag and damaged public property.
The attack was allegedly organised by UK-based Gurcharan Singh of the Dal Khalsa, Avtar Singh Khanda of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and Jasvir Singh, and many of their associates. They were identified during investigation, the spokesperson said. In May, a team of the NIA visited the UK to probe the case. Subsequently, crowdsourcing of information was carried out to identify UK-based entities and individuals involved in the incident.
In a simultaneous effort, the NIA conducted additional searches in various districts. A significant focus of the operations was the residence of Paramjit Singh Pamma, an alleged member of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), situated in Phase 3B2, Mohali. The NIA team arrived at Pamma’s residence at 6 AM and concluded their presence by 10:30 AM. During the course of the operation, Pamma’s parents were subjected to questioning by the officials.
Pamma stands as a prominent figure on the NIA’s most-wanted list due to his alleged involvement in multiple acts of terrorism, including the assassination of Rulda Singh, the president of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat. Singh was fatally shot in Patiala in August 2009.