The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday confiscated an immovable property belonging to alleged pro-Khalistan designated “individual terrorist” Ramandeep Singh in connection with a case registered in August 2022.
The action has been taken on the directions of the NIA special court (Delhi). The property measuring 31 kanal, 9 marlas and 4 sarsahi is located in the Jhok Nodh Singh village of Tibbi Kalan in Punjab’s Ferozepur district.
Ramandeep Singh was declared a proclaimed offender by the NIA Special Court on July 27, 2023. He is wanted in the case related to terror activities of the chiefs and members of several proscribed terrorist organisations, including Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), and International Sikh Youth Federation (ISYF).
“NIA investigations have revealed that the operatives/members of these terror outfits, along with organised criminal gangs operating in various parts of the country, were engaged in smuggling terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition explosive, IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) etc., from across the border to spread terror in India,” said the agency.
In September last year, on the directive of a special court in Mohali (Punjab), the NIA had confiscated the properties of “designated individual terrorist” Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, self-styled general counsel of the United State-based proscribed outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), in Punjab’s Amritsar and Chandigarh. The properties included 46 kanal agricultural land in Khankot village of Amritsar and 1/4th share of a Chandigarh house.
Pannun, who operates from the United States and Canada, has been on the NIA’s radar since 2019. On February 3, 2021, an NIA court had issued non-bailable warrants of arrest against him. He was declared a “Proclaimed Offender” on November 29, 2022.
According to the NIA, the SFJ misuses the cyberspace to radicalise gullible youth and instigate them to undertake terrorist activities. It is alleged that Pannun is the main handler and controller of the outfit, which was declared an unlawful association by the Union Home Ministry on July 10, 2019. Pannun was designated an “individual terrorist” on July 1, 2020.
