Murder attempt on RSS leaders: Accused was trained in Italy says NIA

The National Investigation Agency which is probing a case relating to the killing of Hindu leaders in Punjab has detailed how these accused persons were trained. The NIA which filed its chargesheet in the murder attempt case on Naresh Kumar, an RSS activist says that the prime accused were trained in Italy by a UK national.

During investigation, it was found that the attempt to kill Naresh Kumar was part of a trans- national conspiracy hatched by senior leadership of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF).

Eight incidents of Targeted Killings/ Attempted Killings were executed as part of this conspiracy between January, 2016 and October, 2017 in Punjab. All the persons targeted belonged to certain specific communities and organization, the NIA said. The objective of the conspiracy was to destabilise the law and order in Punjab and revive terrorism in the state.

It was found that the conspiracy had its foot-prints in several countries including, Pakistan, UK, Australia, France, Italy and the UAE. As part of the conspiracy, large amounts of funds were supplied through Italy, Australia and the UK to the perpetrators of the Killings/ Attempted Killings, viz. Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh. These funds were used by them to purchase weapons for executing the killings and other logistics.

The conspiracy included recruitment and training of Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh in Italy, Dubai and UAE. Accused Hardeep Singh is a permanent resident of Italy, while accused Ramandeep Singh belongs to Ludhiana. Both these persons were trained by one Gursharanbir Singh, a UK national.

Another UK national, Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been arrested in the case, was involved in the funding of the conspiracy. Day to day co-ordination in the conspiracy was carried out by Pakistan based Harmeet Singh alias PhD.

Those who have been chargesheeted:

• Hardeep Singh @ Shera @ Pahalwaan;
• Ramandeep Singh @ Canadian @ Bagga;
• Dharminder Singh @ Guguni;
• Anil Kumar @ Kala;
• Jagtar Singh Johal @ Jaggi @ Johar;
• Amaninder Singh @ Mindu;
• Manpreet Singh @ Mani;
• Ravipal Singh @ Bhunda;
• Pahad Singh;
• Parvez @ Farru;
• Malook Tomar;
• Harmeet Singh @ Happy @ PhD @ Doctor (Suspected to be in Pakistan);
• Gurjinder Singh @ Shastri (Suspected to be in Italy);
• Gursharanbir Singh @ Gurusharan Singh Wahiwala @ Pehalwan (Suspected to be in UK);
• Gurjant Singh Dhillon (Suspected to be in Australia).