Chandigarh: Two chargesheets have been filed against 15 people in connection with the killings of Punjab Shiv Sena leaders Satpal Sharma and Durga Prasad Gupta by operatives of terror group Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), the NIA said. The charge sheets were filed in a special court in Mohali under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Arms Act, the National Investigation Agency said.
Sharma and his son Kumar, who were followers of Dera Sacha Sauda, were killed on February 25 last year at ‘Naam Charcha Ghar.’ The NIA said that during investigation, it was found that the killings of Sharma, his son and Gupta were part of a trans-national conspiracy hatched by the senior leadership of the KLF. “Eight incidents of killings or attempted killings were executed as part of this conspiracy between January 2016 and October 2017 in Punjab,” it said, adding a chargesheet was filed in this connection earlier this month.
“The objective of the conspiracy was to destabilise the law and order situation in Punjab and to revive the fledgling terrorism in the state,” the agency said. The conspiracy had its footprints in several countries, including Pakistan, the UK, Australia, France, Italy and the UAE, the NIA said.
“As part of the conspiracy, large funds were supplied through Italy, Australia and the UK to the perpetrators of the killings — Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh.
“These funds were used by them to purchase weapons for executing the killings and other logistics,” it said. The conspiracy included recruitment and training of Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh in Italy, Dubai and the UAE, the agency said. The NIA said while Singh is a permanent resident of Italy, 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,” it said. The NIA said day-to-day coordination of the conspiracy was done by Pakistan-based Harmeet Singh alias ‘PhD’.
