NIA conducts searches against 'terror-gangster syndicate' involved in smuggling arms into India

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted searches at nine locations in multiple states as part of a probe into a conspiracy by terror outfits to smuggle arms and ammunition into the country, according to an official statement.

NIA teams searched the premises of suspects in the “terror-gangster syndicate case” in Palwal, Faridabad and Gurugram districts of Haryana, Jalandhar district of Punjab, and Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, it said.

A host of incriminating materials, including mobiles/digital devices, banking transactions and property-related documents, were seized during the searches, the statement issued by the probe agency said.

“In a massive crackdown in the terror-gangster nexus case, the NIA on Wednesday conducted extensive searches at premises linked with associates of Davinder Bambiha syndicate at nine locations in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh,” it said.

Bambiha, a notorious gangster, was killed in a police encounter in 2016, officials said. The Bambiha gang members are considered rivals of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his associates, they said.

Wednesday’s searches were part of the NIA’s continuous crackdown on terror outfits engaged in criminal conspiracies to smuggle terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition, narcotics, explosives, etc into India, the probe agency said.

NIA investigations in the case, registered on the directions of the Ministry of Home Affairs, further show large-scale attempts by these organisations and terrorists to raise funds for carrying out terror acts on Indian soil, it said.