New Delhi: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher A Wray on Tuesday visited the National Investigation Agency (NIA) headquarters in New Delhi and held a detailed discussion on the attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco and the investigation of cyber-terror and cyber-crimes of various kinds.
FBI was "aggressively" investigating the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on March 19 and July 2 this year, Wray told NIA Director General Dinkar Gupta during a high-level meeting.
"During the meeting, wide-ranging discussions were held on a host of issues, including the acts and activities of terrorist-organised criminal networks and ongoing investigations in the US in the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco," the NIA said in a press release.
On March 19, a group of pro-Khalistan protesters attacked and damaged the Indian Consulate in San Francisco following the killing of separatist Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. They also attempted to set the Consulate building on fire by sprinkling inflammable substances early in the morning.
Subsequently on July 2 at midnight, a few unidentified attackers attempted to set the consulate building on fire.
“Wray also informed the NIA that the FBI was aggressively investigating the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco,” the statement added.
The federal agency said that Wray’s visit signifies a step towards deepening the cooperation and shared commitment between the national agencies of the US and India to combat terror in all its manifestations around the globe.
During the meeting, Gupta highlighted the active nexus of terrorist groups and elements with members of organised criminal syndicates, which was spreading to the US as well.
The FBI Director's visit to NIA Headquarters comes just weeks after Washington alleged an Indian link to a foiled plot to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on American soil.
India has already constituted a probe team to investigate the allegations.
Wray said both the agencies have a lot in common and the similarities are far greater than the differences. “On the nexus between terror actors and organised crime syndicates, Wray said that a blending of lines between terrorists and criminals was now visible in the cyberspace as well,” NIA added.
Terror incidents like 9/11 and the Mumbai attacks have changed the way in which nations respond to terror threats, Wray observed, emphasising on the need to take the partnership and cooperation between the FBI and the NIA to the next level to deal with the constantly evolving challenges and threats of terrorism.
"During the meeting, the NIA DG pointed out that threats in the cyber domain were increasing. Digital space was also being effectively exploited by terrorists and extremists for propagating radical views and recruitment, he said, adding that NIA was also seeing use of cryptocurrency for terrorist financing," according to the statement.
Wray said increasingly, cybercrimes are being committed to fund terrorism.
“This evolution of the cyber-threat needs a joint response towards investigation of cyber-threat cases,” he stressed.
The difficulties encountered by law enforcement agencies across the world in obtaining data from encryption apps also came up for discussion during the meeting.
The two sides noted that with the advent of newer technologies at a fast pace, tracing, tracking and investigating crypto transactions is turning out to be a huge challenge, NIA said.
"Both the agencies recognised the challenges posed by organised crime networks, terror related crimes, cyber enabled terror attacks, ransomware threats, economic crimes and transnational terror crimes," the statement further stated.
Wray thanked the NIA for the enduring cooperation between the two agencies, and looked forward to exploration of new opportunities to collaborate further.
The DG NIA thanked the FBI for being a very significant partner in the training and capacity building of Indian police officers.