Court extends by 10 days NIA custody of aides of Canada-based terrorist Arshdeep Dhalla

New Delhi [India], May 27 (ANI): Delhi Patiala House Court on Saturday extended National Investigation Agency custody of Amritpal Singh alias Ammy and Amrik Singh for 10 days.

They are allegedly associated with Canada-based terrorists Arshdeep Singh Dhalla and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).
They were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) at the Indira Gandhi International Airport after being deported from Manila on May 19. The accused persons were produced before the court after the expiry of eight-day remand.

Special judge Shailendra Malik extended the custody of the accused till June 6.

NIA is interrogating them in connection with the alleged involvement in the recruitment of youth for KTF and also involvement in the smuggling and procurement of arms and ammunition and raising funds for the organisation.

The agency had sought an extension of custody of both accused persons, sources said.

Non-bailable arrest warrants had been issued against them by the NIA court in a case related to the unlawful and violent activities of banned organisations in India.

The two have several criminal cases registered against them in Punjab. NIA registered a suo moto case on August 20 last year under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

NIA investigations have revealed that the accused had entered into 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.

The accused had been working for Arshdeep Singh Dhalla to promote violent criminal activities of KTF in India, NIA had said earlier.

In association with another notorious wanted accused Manpreet Singh alias Peeta, they had been involved in smuggling of weapons from Pakistan and recruitment of youth to carry out acts of violence and terror in the country at the behest of the KTF.

They were also part of an extortion racket for raising funds for the banned outfit. The accused used to identify extortion targets, including businessmen, and then threaten them into parting with huge amounts. In case the identified targets refused, their homes and other premises would be fired at by the accused’s India-based associates.

The arrests were part of NIA’s continuous crackdown on individual terrorists and terrorist outfits engaged in a criminal conspiracy to smuggle terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition, explosives etc, and raise funds for carrying out terrorist acts on Indian soil.