The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday morning arrested Deepak Ranga, the main shooter in the Rocket-Propelled Grenade (RPG) attack on Punjab Police Intelligence Headquarters in Mohali in May last year.
Ranga, a close associate of Canada based gangster-turned-terrorist Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa and Pakistan-based gangster-turned-terrorist Harvinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur. Ranga had been absconding since the RPG attack.
Ranga has been actively receiving terror funds and logistical support from Rinda and Landa, the NIA said.
Apart from his involvement in the May RPG attack, Ranga, a resident of Surakpur village in Haryana's Jhajjar, has been involved in a number of other violent terrorist and criminal offences, including violent killings, said the anti-terror agency.
The NIA registered the case suo moto on September 20 last year after it emerged that terrorist outfits and terror elements based abroad were operating in tandem with leaders and members of organized criminal gangs operating in northern States of the country to commit targeted killings and violent criminal acts.
"It had also emerged that the terror-gangster-drug smuggler network was also engaged in smuggling terrorist hardware, such as arms, ammunition explosives, IEDs etc across the border through a widespread inter-state network of gun runners, illegal arms and ammunition manufacturers and suppliers and explosive traffickers," said the NIA.
Since the registration of three criminal cases against terror-gangster-drug smuggler network, the NIA said, it has already arrested 19 leaders and members of various organized criminal gangs, two arms suppliers and one big financier connected with the network under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Canada-based Arsh Dalla has been designated as an 'individual terrorist' by the MHA on January 9, 2023, said the NIA, adding "Further action to dismantle the terror-gangster-smuggler nexus and infrastructure would be intensified in the near future."
( With inputs from ANI )
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