NIA court issues NBWs against 2 KZF terrorists in drone arms drops case in Punjab

A special NIA court in Mohali has issued non-bailable warrants against two alleged terrorists belonging to the Khalistan Zindabad Force in a case related to dropping of arms and ammunition in Punjab by drones originating from Pakistan, officials said on Wednesday.

The warrants have been issued against Ranjeet Singh Neeta, a resident of R S Pura in Jammu, who is based in Pakistan at present and Gurmeet Singh alias Bagga, a resident of Hoshiyarpur district in Punjab who is based in Germany now, an NIA spokesperson said.

The case pertains to dropping of arms, ammunition, explosives, communication devices and fake Indian currency notes (FICN) in September last year in the Indian territory at Chola Sahib in Punjab by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones that originated from Pakistan.

"During investigation, role of Neeta, Pakistan based chief of Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), a proscribed terrorist organisation and Singh, a key operative of KZF based in Hamburg, Germany has been found in the conspiracy of trafficking of illegal arms, ammunition, explosives, communication devices and FICNs into India to further terrorist activities," the agency spokesperson said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had taken over the case as this act was considered "to cause loss of life and property of citizens as well as to threaten the security of India."

"Investigation has disclosed that the two have been able to recruit certain individuals from Punjab for carrying out terrorist activities," the spokesperson said.

Nine people have been arrested in this case till now and the probe is ongoing, he said.