‘Khalistani operative’ sent to NIA custody

THREE DAYS after the arrest of Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, an alleged Khalistani operative in Delhi by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), a special court in Mumbai sent him to the agency’s custody till December 31.

Nijjar was arrested at the Delhi airport on Tuesday in connection with a case filed in 2019 where he was named as a wanted accused facing allegations that he was attempting to “revive Sikh militancy” through their activity on social media platforms.

A chargesheet filed against him as an absconding accused in May 2019 had claimed that he was based in Cyprus and had helped procure international SIM cards and provided finance to a co-accused.

Four men were named as part of the alleged conspiracy — Moinuddin Siddiqui, Harpal Singh, retired Delhi Police ACP Sundarlal Parashar and Nijjar. It was claimed that Siddiqui was influenced by Singh and Nijjar through social media posts related to militant group, Babbar Khalsa International.

The NIA Friday sought custody of Nijjar claiming that it wanted to probe his role in detail based on evidence that has come forward from co-accused and other sources. The NIA submitted that Nijjar, an Amritsar resident, had fled the country in 2017 and a lookout circular was issued against him in 2020. He was claimed to have been arrested from Indira Gandhi international airport in Delhi.