NIA files charge sheet against 10 in Hizbul Mujahideen narco-terror case

Image courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday (October 20) filed 14000 pages charge sheet against ten (10) people in NIA Special Court at Mohali, Punjab, in connection with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) Narco-terror case.

The chargesheet has been filed u/s 120B, 419, 471, 489C of IPC, sections 8, 21, 23, 12 24, 25, 27, 27A, 29 & 31 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, sections 17, 18, 20, 38 and 40 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and section 12(1)(b) of Indian Passports Act against the following persons:

1. Hilal Ahmed Shergojri, 35 years, r/o dist- Pulwama (J&K) (Arrested)
2. Bikram Singh, 27 years r/o dist- Amritsar (Arrested)
3. Maninder Singh, 22 years, r/o dist- Amritsar (Arrested)
4. Ranjit Singh, 42 years, r/o dist- Gurdaspur (Arrested)
5. Jaswant Singh, 25 years r/o dist- Gurdaspur (Arrested)
6. Ranjit Singh, 41 years r/o dist- Amritsar (Arrested)
7. Gagandeep Singh, 27 years r/o dist- Amritsar (Arrested)
8. Iqbal Singh,24 years, r/o dist- Amritsar (Absconding)
9. Zafar Hussain Bhat, 52 years, r/o dist.- Anantnag  (J&K), Presently in Pakistan (Absconding)
10. Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, r/o dist- Pulwama (J&K) (Killed)

The case pertains to the arrest of one Hilal Ahmed Shergojri and recovery of Rs 29 Lakh from his possession by Punjab Police on April 25 this year. The NIA took up the investigation of the case on May 8 this year.

During the NIA investigation, it emerged that accused Hilal, who had come to Amritsar to collect the amount of Rs 29 Lakh, was a member of proscribed terrorist organization Hizb-ul –Mujahideen (HM) and a close associate of Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, the then HM commander of Kashmir Valley, according to an official statement. 

This led to busting of a major Narco-terror module involved in smuggling and selling of Heroin in India and channelizing of drug-proceeds to Pakistan through hawala and to the HM terrorists based in J&K.

The probe also unearthed the conspiracy hatched by Pakistan-based HM commanders and their associates and terrorist gangs in Punjab to support and augment the terror infrastructure of HM in India by raising money through drug smuggling/drug pedalling.  

The investigation also revealed that the accused had received at least six consignments of heroin through Attari Indo-Pakistan Border in the garb of importing Rock Salt granules from Pakistan. 

Of these, money proceeds of five consignments were partly sent back to Pakistan through hawala operators while a substantial portion was channelized to HM terrorists in Kashmir through a network of OGWs and other associates. In July 2019, 6th consignment of around 532 Kgs of heroin was seized at Attari Border and a separate case was registered, which was investigated and charge-sheeted by NIA, said the official statement.    

The NIA carried out searches at 15 locations belonging to the suspects and accused in Punjab, Haryana and J&K during investigation. So far, Rs 98.5 lakh, 8 vehicles and 3 Kgs of heroin have been seized from the accused and investments worth many crores have been identified.  

During searches, incriminating documents related to benami properties and digital gadgets including mobile phones, pen drives and laptops were seized and forensically examined. Many incriminating chats between accused persons have been recovered from the seized digital devices, the statement added.