The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has achieved a phenomenal conviction rate of 94.70%, arrested 625 accused, and attached assets worth about ₹56 crore in 2023. The agency cracked down on the nexus between pro-Khalistan operatives, gangsters and drug smugglers, and also carried out operations against the modules linked to the Islamic State (IS) and other banned terror outfits.
There was an increase of nearly 28% in the number of arrests compared to 490 in 2022. Among those arrested were 65 allegedly related to the IS, 114 in the other “jihadi terror” cases, 45 accused of human trafficking, 28 accused of terrorist and organised criminal activity, and 76 linked to the Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) cases, the agency said on Sunday.
In 2023, the NIA registered 68 cases. They included 18 “jihadi terror” cases in multiple States, three from Jammu and Kashmir, 12 related to LWE activities, seven involving terrorist and organised criminal activity in Punjab, five from the northeast States, and two fake Indian currency cases. The number of persons chargesheeted and convicted stood at 513 and 74, as against 459 and 79 in 2022.
“The attacks on the High Commissions of India in Ottawa and London, as well as on the Consulate General of India, San Francisco, U.S.A., also remained the focus of the NIA actions as were the other offences against Indian interests abroad through the year, which witnessed more than 50 raids and searches as part of the agency’s efforts to unravel the conspiracy behind the attacks on Indian missions abroad,” said an agency official.
Innovative methods
The NIA employed several innovative methods, including crowd sourcing of information, while investigating the larger conspiracy behind the attacks on Indian missions, resulting in the identification of 43 suspects. It has also examined over 80 suspects in India.
The agency also tracked down and arrested 47 accused in 2023, 14 more than the previous year, who were absconding. “Also, arrests made upon deportation and extradition signify the NIA’s commitment to pursuing offenders across its international borders. While Amritpal Singh, Amrik Singh, Manpreet Singh aka Peeta, and Mandeep Singh were deported from the Philippines, Vikram Brar was arrested upon deportation from the United Arab Emirates,” said the agency.
The agency conducted 1,040 searches and raids in 2023 compared to 957 in 2022. It had attached 37 properties worth ₹10.53 crore the previous year, whereas in 2023 the figure went up to 240 (including 156 bank accounts) with a total value of ₹55.90 crore. The attachments made under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act included 12 properties of six listed “individual terrorists”, including four bank accounts, worth ₹1.5 crore.
In the “jihadi terror” cases, 15 accused were arrested in December following raids at 44 locations in Maharashtra and Karnataka. A similar crackdown led to the arrest of eight alleged operatives of the “ISIS Ballari module” on December 18. Similar actions were taken against elements in Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur and Bhopal in September.
The NIA chargesheeted 55 persons in two cases of terrorist-gangster nexus, and carried out 253 raids, arrested 27 persons and attached 18 properties. The most significant was the arrest of Deepak Ranga, the prime accused in the Rocket-Propelled Grenade attack on the Punjab police intelligence headquarters.
Wanted in several cases, he was allegedly the chief executioner of terror activities of the Babbar Khalsa International’s Pakistan-based Harwinder Singh Sandhu @ Rinda and Canada-based Lakhbir Singh Landa, who are designated “individual terrorists”. Another arrest was that of Peeta, allegedly the right-hand man of Canada-based designated terrorist Arshdeep Dalla.
Human trafficking cases
In 2023, the agency also focused on cases of human trafficking through Indo-Bangladesh border, involving Bangladesh and Myanmar nationals. Four more accused were arrested in Tripura in December, while in November, 29 alleged operatives were held following nationwide raids on the transnational human trafficking syndicates.
Based on NIA findings, six persons were declared “individual terrorists” in 2023. “In addition, four terrorist organisations — The Resistance Force (TRF), People’s Anti-Fascists Front (PAFF), Jammu & Kashmir Ghanzavi Force (JKGF), and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF)) — have been banned in response to the proposal made by the NIA,” said the agency.
The NIA also organised the Anti-Terror Conference in November, in order to bring about synchronised counter-terrorism response across the nation.
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