The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, raided 31 locations across Punjab and Haryana to locate those involved in the conspiracy behind the March 19 attack on the High Commission of India in London.
The agency said searches were carried out to identify and arrest all those involved in the conspiracy. “It has been carrying out extensive investigations into the incident with a view to ensuring there is no repeat of such breach of security, disrespect to the Indian National Flag or any threat to Indian interests abroad,” said the NIA statement.
Digital data seized
According to the NIA, the raids led to the seizure of digital data on accused persons involved in the attack on the High Commission and other incriminating documents and evidence. “The districts where these searches took place today include Moga, Barnala, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Tarn Taran, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur, SBS Nagar, Amritsar, Mukhtsar, Sangrur, Patiala, Mohali in Punjab and Sirsa in Haryana,” it said.
The High Commission of India was attacked by a group of about 50 persons, who have been accused of committing criminal trespass, causing disrespect to the Indian National flag, damaging public property and causing injuries to officials of the High Commission. The attack was organised by Gurcharan Singh, Dal Khalsa, United Kingdom; Avtar Singh Khanda of Khalistan Liberation Force (who recently died); Jasvir Singh and many of their associates, both Indian and foreign nationals, who have been identified during the NIA investigations, said the agency.
Earlier in May, an NIA team visited the UK to gather evidence in the case. Subsequently, “crowdsourcing of information” was also initiated to identify and collect information about the UK-based entities and individuals involved in the incident. The attackers were identified based on those details.
