Hizbul Mujahideen narco-terror case: NIA files third chargesheet [details]

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed a third supplementary charesheet in the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) narco terror case.

The third chargesheet was filed against Gurjant Singh alias Sunny resident of Amritsar, Punjab, and Nasir Khan alias Pathan, a resident of Pakistan before NIA Special Court, Mohali, Punjab under sections 120-B of IPC, sections 8 R/W 21, 23, 24, 27-A & 29 of NDPS Act and sections 17, 18, 20 of UA (P) Act.

The chargesheet was filed against the accused for their alleged involvement in supplying weapons and channelizing proceeds of narcotics sale for furthering terrorist activities of Pakistan-based Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in Jammu and Kashmir.

Case was originally registered in Punjab

The case was originally registered as FIR No. 135/20 dated 25-04-2020 at Police Station Sadar, Amritsar, Punjab related to the arrest of Allah Ahmed Shergojri and seizure of a truck and recovery of cash Rs 29 lakhs from his possession.

He was an Over Ground Worker (OGW) and a close associate of Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo, the then commander of Hizb–ul-Mujahideen in Kashmir. NIA had re-registered the case as RC 23/2020/NIA/DLI on 08-05-2020 and taken over the investigation.

Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo had come to Amritsar to collect funds that were proceeds of narcotics sale for furthering terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The investigation has revealed that accused Gurjant Singh is a narcotics trafficker and he was in close contact with other co-conspirators for the supply of heroin and channelizing the proceeds of the sale of narcotics. The other accused Nasir Khan alias Pathan is a Pakistan-based trafficker involved in the smuggling of Heroin into India in the garb of export of rock salt granules through the Attari border.

The first chargesheet was filed in October 2020

In October 2020, the NIA had filed a 14,000-page chargesheet against 10 people in NIA Special Court at Mohali, Punjab, in connection with this case.

During questioning of arrested persons, it was established that the narco-terror module was 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 pedaling.

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.