NIA Raids 31 Locations Across Punjab, Haryana Over Attack On High Commission Of India In London

Digital data was seized during the raids which contained information regarding those accused of being involved in the attack and other incriminating documents and evidence were also recovered.

NIA conducted raids at 31 locations across Punjab and Haryana/Representational Image

Source : ANI

The National Investigation Agency on Tuesday conducted raids at 31 locations across Punjab and Haryana in a major crackdown against those involved in the March 19 attack on the High Commission of India in London, said an official. On March 19, a group of around 50 people attacked the High Commission of India in London during a pro-Khalistan protest. They committed criminal trespass, injured officials, disrespected the Indian flag and damaged public property. The raids were conducted to unravel the full contours of the conspiracy and bring to book the culprits, an official said. 

"Massive raids were conducted across the two north-Indian states (Punjab and Haryana) as part of the NIA's efforts to unravel the bigger conspiracy behind the London attack," the spokesperson of the anti-terror federal agency said, as per a PTI report.

Searches were carried out in various districts including Moga, Barnala, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Tarn Taran, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur, SBS Nagar, Amritsar, Mukhtsar, Sangrur, Patiala and Mohali in Punjab, and Sirsa in Haryana, a spokesperson of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said.

Digital data was seized during the raids which contained information regarding those accused of being involved in the attack and other incriminating documents and evidence were also recovered, as per the report. 

The federal probe agency said it was leaving no stone unturned to arrest perpetrators of the attack, their associates and their supporters, based in India and abroad.

"The NIA 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," the spokesperson said

In May, a team of the NIA visited the UK for the probe in connection with the case. Subsequently, crowdsourcing of information was carried out to identify UK-based entities and individuals involved in the incident.

The attack was allegedly organised by UK-based Gurcharan Singh of the Dal Khalsa, Avtar Singh Khanda of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) and Jasvir Singh, and many of their associates, both Indian and foreign nationals. They were identified during the investigation, the official said.