New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) The Special NIA court in Punjab’s Mohali has sentenced nine accused to imprisonment, ranging from life imprisonment to 10 years in a case of dropping explosives and arms using drones on the instructions of designated terrorists Gurmeet Singh a.k.a. Bagga and Ranjeet Singh a.k.a. Neeta.
The court found the accused guilty under various sections of IPC, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Arms Act and Explosives Substances Act in the case, linked with the proscribed terrorist organisation Khalistan Zindabad Force.
The accused, identified as Akashdeep Singh, Balwant Singh, Balbir Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Maan Singh, Shubhdeep Singh, Sajanpreet Singh, Gurdev Singh and Romandeep Singh, have been convicted and sentenced in the case taken over by the NIA from Amritsar Police in October 2019.
While Akashdeep Singh, Balwant Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Balbir Singh, Maan Singh and Gurudev Singh have been sentenced to life imprisonment and fine, accused Shubhdeep Singh, Sajanpreet Singh and Romandeep Singh have been sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) and fine for their respective roles in the case.
As per NIA investigations, the accused were involved in collecting, transporting and smuggling huge caches of arms, ammunitions, explosives, communication devices and fake currency sent into India via drones by Germany-based terrorist Bagga and Pakistan-based terrorist Neeta.
The explosives and arms were drone-dropped at specified locations in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district at various intervals during the months of August and September in 2019.
The entire conspiracy was aimed at unleashing a terrorist attack in Punjab with the aim of striking terror in the minds of the people of India and disrupting the nation’s peace, security and unity with the eventual goal of waging a war against the Government of India.
In a separate case, a Special NIA Court in Ranchi, Jharkhand, sentenced an absconding accused to rigorous imprisonment (RI) in connection with a major CPI (Maoist) arms and ammunition seizure case.
Mantu Sharma of district Aurangabad (Bihar) was found guilty on various charges by the special court in the case, originally registered by Jharkhand police after they raided the Silodar forest area in August 2012.
The police arrested Prafulla Kumar Malakar, member of the Arms & Ammunition Supply Unit of the banned terror outfit, CPI (Maoist). A US-made M-16 Rifle, 14 live rounds, 02 mobile phones, and a bullet proof jacket were seized from him.
Malakar’s questioning led to the arrest of another accused, Anil Kumar Yadav, who was found in possession of one 9mm Pistol and 02 live rounds, along with Rs 9 lakh and 2 mobile phones. Yadav, a Zonal Commander of CPI (Maoist), was on his way to purchase the weapon from Malakar when he was nabbed, the NIA said.
–IANS
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