New Delhi:
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) recorded an “all-time high” of 73 cases by 2022 as it works on a “whole ecosystem” approach to dismantle the terrorist networks seeking to harm India, officials said Saturday.
They also said the agency was “pressing the accelerator” to extradite gangster Goldy Brar, the prime suspect in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.
There were recent reports of his detention in the US, but according to agency sources, these were “unconfirmed” reports.
He has an Interpol warrant for his arrest and his Canadian visa has expired.
Attempts are being made to get him back to India to face the law, they said.
The federal anti-terrorism research agency has released year-end figures of its action, saying the cases filed by it under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and some other IPC sections cover a spectrum of crimes, including ” Jihadi terror’. ‘, gangster-terror-drug smugglers connection, terrorism financing and FIRs against the now banned Islamist organization PFI or the Popular Front of India.
“The NIA recorded 73 cases in 2022, which is an increase of 19.67 percent from the 61 cases recorded in 2021 and is a record high for the agency,” said an agency spokesperson.
On average, about 60 cases were filed by the agency in 2019 and 2020, officials said.
Cases recorded this year include 35 cases of ‘jihadi’ terror in J&K, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal, 10 cases linked to the left extremism (LWE), five cases involving insurgents in the Northeast, seven cases involving the PFI, three cases involving gangster terror drug traffickers, one terror financing case and two involving counterfeit Indian banknotes (FICN ), a spokesman said.
The agency also filed a total of 59 charges against 368 individuals during the year, according to official records.
“In 2022, 38 cases were sentenced, all of which ended in conviction. 109 individuals were sentenced to heavy prison terms and fines, and six life sentences were also imposed,” the data says.
The overall conviction rate for the agency currently stands at 94.39 percent, it said.
Officials said the agency was working on an “ecosystem approach” and working with other central investigative agencies and state organizations to dismantle the entire terrorist infrastructure.
“It is the view of the Union Secretary of the Interior (Amit Shah) that the NIA should take an ‘agency-like approach’ and not just as a police station. This approach, like the US FBI, requires an broader and comprehensive approach to terrorism crimes and their modus operandi,” said a senior NIA officer.
Established in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the agency has also increased its “geographical footprint” in the country, as the number of branches has now grown to 18 and is expected to reach two dozen next year. officer said.
We are getting more manpower and want to set up two full-fledged branches to tackle cyber terrorism and human trafficking, he said.
Agency officials said the NIA also recorded “offshoot cases” in which terrorist ties were revealed during investigations by state police or another central agency.
It is part of our new standard operating procedure (SOP) that we are associated with each terrorist case from the start, so that we are aware of the trail, evidence and other input if it comes to us at a later stage. , they said.
The agency also conducted investigations with cross-border implications and for which the sleuths had to travel to that country.
“For such probes, the NIA takes the help of the Department of the Interior and State and we have, and we would, travel to those countries that our investigations are linked to,” they said.
According to official data, the NIA arrested 456 people this year, including 19 people in hiding.
Two suspects were arrested after deportation and one charged after extradition, it said.
In 2022, eight individuals were identified as individual terrorists under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act (UAPA), the data said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
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