NIA begins investigation into six cases related to string of targeted killings of Hindu leaders in Punjab
Chandigarh, January 8: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has begun the investigation into six cases related to the string of targeted killings of Hindu leaders including RSS leader Brig Jagdish Gagneja (Retd), RSS activist Ravinder Gosain, Pastor Sultan Masih and two Dera Sacha Sauda supporters in Punjab since January 2016, following an Intelligence Bureau report.
Earlier, Punjab police in the month of November last year, busted an ISI backed terror module and arrested four persons who were allegedly involved in many targeted killings of religious leaders. Three of the suspects were identified as a Jimmy Singh, Jagtar Singh Johal alias Jaggi and Dharmender alias Guggni. However, the identity of the fourth suspect was not released.
During the initial investigation, it had been found that they were being orchestrated by Sikh terrorists and the Pakistani spy agency ISI. However, it was also found that funds had been routed in for this operation from Italy, Pakistan, Canada and the UK.
Jimmy Singh is a resident of Jammu and recently returned to India from the UK after spending many years there and was arrested from Delhi's IGI airport. Jagtar Singh Johal is a UK national who got married last month and was nabbed from Jalandhar. Dharmender is a gangster from Meharban in Ludhiana who allegedly supplied weapons to the killers.
The NIA was handed over an IB report which spoke about how the ISI was trying to revive terrorism in Punjab. It was also found that some of the militants in Punjab were linked to groups in Kashmir as well. The scanner is on the pro-Khalistani outfits and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba too.
Interestingly, senior RSS leader Brig Jagdish Gagneja (retd), Punjab Shiv Sena labour leader Durga Prasad Gupta, Hindu leader Amit Sharma, Dera Sacha Sauda followers Satpal Kumar and son Ramesh Kumar, Christian leader Pastor Sultan Masih and Ludhiana-based RSS leader Ravinder Gosain were targeted by this module.