New Delhi [India], May 19 : Delhi's Patiala House Court on Friday granted eight-day custody of Amritpal Singh alias Ammy and Amrik Singh to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) till May 27. They are allegedly associated with Canada-based terrorist Arshdeep Dhalla and the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF).
They have been arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019 (UAPA) after being deported from Manila, Philipines on Friday at the IGI Airport.
Special judge Shailendra Malik granted eight-day custody of both accused to interrogate in connection with the alleged involvement in the recruitment of youth for KTF and also involvement in the smuggling and procurement of arms and ammunition and raising funds for the organisation.
"The agency sought 12-day custody of both accused persons," sources said.
The hearing was conducted in a closed courtroom.
The accused had non-bailable arrest warrants issued against them by the NIA Court in a case related to the unlawful and violent activities of banned organisations in India.
They also have several criminal cases registered against them in Punjab. NIA had registered a suo moto case on August 20, last year under various sections of the IPC and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
According to NIA, they are allegedly associated with Arshdeep Dhalla and involved in the recruitment of youth for KTF and smuggling and procuring of arms and ammunition.
"They were both hailing from Punjab and were nabbed in an early morning operation by the NIA, whose team was waiting at the Airport for their flight to land," the agency said.
"The two are 'wanted' close associates of Canada-based 'listed terrorist' Arsh Dhalla on Friday when they arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) from Manila, Philippines, where they have been living," the agency said in a statement.
The duo, identified as Amritpal Singh alias Ammy and Amritk Singh, both hailing from Punjab, were nabbed in an early morning operation by the NIA, whose team was waiting at the Airport for their flight to land.
NIA investigations have revealed that the accused had entered into a criminal conspiracy to raise funds for the banned terrorist organization Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), and also smuggle arms, ammunition and explosives for it from across the border.
The accused had been working for individual designated terrorist Arshdeep Singh Dhalla to promote violent criminal activities of the KTF in India, NIA.
In association with another notorious wanted accused Manpreet Singh alias Peeta, they had been involved in smuggling weapons from Pakistan and recruitment of youth to carry out acts of violence and terror in the country at the behest of the KTF.
They were also part of an extortion racket for raising funds for the banned outfit.
The accused used to identify extortion targets, including businessmen, and then threaten them into parting with huge amounts.
In case the identified targets refused, their homes and other premises would be fired at by the accused's India-based associates.
"The arrests were part of NIA's continuous crackdown on individual terrorists and terrorist outfits engaged in a criminal conspiracy to smuggle terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition, explosives etc, and raise funds for carrying out terrorist acts on Indian soil. Further investigations in the case are in progress," the agency said.
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