New Delhi. NIA has arrested a close aide of two foreign-based operatives of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), namely Canada based Arshdeep Singh @Arsh Dala and Philippines based Manpreet Singh @Peeta.
The accused, Gagandeep Singh @Miti, who was nabbed by the NIA on Tuesday during the raids in Haryana and Punjab, is the fifth person to be arrested, as part of NIA’s sustained crackdown on the Organised Crime Syndicate and network being operated Arsh Dala and Manpreet Peeta’s in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan, in a case related to the terror activities of chiefs/members of proscribed pro-Khalistan terrorist organisations. The case was registered suo-moto by NIA on 20th August, 2022.
The NIA had earlier arrested Lucky Khokhar @Denis from Ganganagar in February 2023, Jassa Singh of Moga on 18th May 2023, as well as Amritpal Singh alias Ammy of Moga and Amrik Singh of Firozepur, who were picked up from IGI Airport, New Delhi on 19th May 2023.
While Peeta has been living in the Philippines, Dalla currently based in Canada, was declared a Proclaimed Offender by the NIA Special Court, Mohali, on Monday in a Priest murder conspiracy case.
According to NIA investigations, Gagandeep Singh alias Miti had been working for Dalla and Peeta, and was supporting them in smuggling weapons from across the border. He was also part of an extortion racket for raising funds for the banned outfit Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). Dalla and Peeta have been continuously recruiting new cadres in India to carry out the activities of KTF.
They are working at the behest of Harjit Nijjar, KTF’s self-styled chief; currently based in Canada, who was also designated as an ‘individual terrorist’ by the MHA in July 2020. They are raising funds through extortion and other means and carrying out smuggling of arms, ammunition and explosives across the border.
KTF, as well as other proscribed terrorist organisations, such as Khalistan Liberation Force, Babbar Khalsa International, International Sikh Youth Federation, Khalistan Tiger Force etc., have been engaged in promoting terror across India. Their activities include smuggling of terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition explosive, IEDs etc. across international borders, for carrying out terrorist acts like bomb explosions, targeted killings etc.
