KHALISTAN EXTREMISM MONITOR
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
A project of the Institute for Conflict Management
Confirming ₹7,80,000 in cash and a Toyota Innova car as “proceeds of terrorism”, the NIA special court, Panchkula, has forfeited the seized property of four aides of Pakistan-based proscribed “listed Khalistani terrorist” Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda.
The NIA special court has now ordered confirmation of the seizures and forfeited the said property under Section 26 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, to the state on the grounds that the same constituted “proceeds of terrorism”.
The court of Rajeev Goyal, special judge under NIA Haryana at Panchkula, on September 8 had allowed an application moved by the NIA for the forfeiture of the property, including ₹7,80,000 in cash and a Toyota Innova car, which was used by the accused for transporting arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics across India.
“The NIA is proceeding with regard to the above property as per provisions of the UAPA and accordingly, while observing that the property in question constitutes ‘proceeds of terrorism’, the orders of seizure are hereby confirmed and the cash amount as well as Toyota Innova car are hereby forfeited to state,” said the court order of September 8, while allowing NIA’s application.
The court order also pointed out that notice was issued to accused persons, but they chose not to file any reply, which means that they have nothing to say concerning the confirmation of the seizure and forfeiture of cash amount and the car.
This is the first time the NIA had proactively sought the properties of terrorists to be ‘forfeited to the state’ under section 26 of UAPA after being attached as proceeds of terrorism.
Forfeiture of properties is a major new tool in NIA’s strategy to dismantle the terrorist ecosystem in the country. The NIA has adopted this strategy to squeeze the financial resources of the terrorist outfits as well as their operatives and associates. The agency has already attached several terrorist-linked properties and the process of their forfeiture is under way in various courts.
Ammunition seized in May 2022
The Haryana Police had on May 5, 2022, seized three IEDs, one pistol with two magazines, 31 rounds of ammunition and ₹1.30 lakh in cash from the four accused, Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, Amandeep Singh alias Deepa, Parminder Singh alias Pinder and Bhupinder Singh. They were going to deliver the consignment to Adilabad, Telangana, in the Innova car, in which a specially designed cavity had been created to hide the arms and cash.
A case was registered at police station Madhubhan, Haryana. On May 24, 2022, the NIA took over the investigations in the case.
Investigations by NIA revealed that the four men had received multiple consignments of arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics, which were sent via drones from Pakistan by wanted terrorist Rinda. The supplies were delivered at pre-determined locations near the Indo-Pak border. Further investigations showed that Gopi had earned a lot of money by smuggling arms, ammunition, explosives and narcotics.
Extensive investigations led to the seizure of the Innova car and ₹7,80,000 by the NIA on March 30, 2023.