NIA charges 11 persons in connection with killing of vice chief of RSS in Punjab

New Delhi, Nov 16: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against 11 persons in connection with the murder of Brig (retd) Jagdish Kumar Gajnega, the vice chief of the RSS in the state of Punjab.

He was shot dead by two motorcycle borne persons at the Red Cross Market area in Jalandhar.

During the investigation, it was found that the killing of Brig. (Retd.) Jagdish Kumar Gagneja was part of Trans-national conspiracy hatched by the senior leadership of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). Eight acts 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 specific communities and organisations and the objective of the conspiracy was to destabilise the law and order situation in Punjab and to 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 from Italy, Australia and the UK to the perpetrators of the Killings namely, Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh. These funds were used by them to purchase weapons for executing the killings as well as other logistics.

The conspiracy included recruitment and training of Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh in Italy and Dubai, UAE, respectively. Accused Hardeep Singh is the 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 of the conspiracy was done by Pakistan based Harmeet Singh @ PhD.