The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted searches at nine locations in Punjab and one in Haryana in connection with a criminal conspiracy to raise funds for the banned terrorist organization Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), and also smuggle arms, ammunition and explosives for it from across the border, reported ANI. The agency had registered a suo moto case on August 20 last year under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Meanwhile on Friday, the NIA said it has filed supplementary chargesheet against five accused in the Coimbatore car bomb blast that took place in October last year.
The blast that took place a day after Diwali shook the residents of Kottaimedu in Coimbatore. Jameesha Mubin, the victim, parked his car in front of Sangameswarar Temple to avoid police patrol and suddenly the car exploded in a blast triggered by one of the two LPG cylinders kept in the vehicle on October 23, 2022, according to reports.
After this, a case was registered at Ukkadam police station but the investigation was later handed over to NIA on November 27. The police also seized incriminating documents in the searches.
The NIA had conducted raids at multiple locations across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala in connection with the blast case. The raids are conducted in over 60 places.
In November last year, the NIA also raided 43 locations in eight districts of Tamil Nadu in connection with the case. The NIA raided Chennai, Coimbatore, Thiruvallur, Tiruppur, Nilgiris, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram and Nagapattinam districts in Tamil Nadu. They also searched a location in Palakkad district of Kerala.
Earlier in March, NIA conducted raids at five locations in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in connection with the probe into the terror module Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) for blasts in Coimbatore and Mangaluru.
Following up on leads, the central probe agency searched the house of suspects Talha Khan in Pune and Akram Khan in Seoni (Madhya Pradesh).