As part of the ongoing crackdown on the terror-gangster-smuggler nexus case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) today arrested Vikramjeet Singh alias Vikram Brar, a key aide of notorious jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, immediately after his deportation from UAE to India. A team from NIA had gone to UAE to facilitate this deportation and brought him back to India. Brar, involved in the sensational killing of famous Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, is also accused of targeted killings of innocent people and in smuggling of weapons and extortion in India.
He is close associate of Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and others who acted as CCR (communications control room) and handled financial deals and logistics for the criminal activities of Lawrence Bishnoi gang from the UAE and acted as a bridge between the gang and Khalistani terrorists. He is native of Rajasthan and Interpol had issued global arrest warrant for him.
NIA has found that the gang sends money generated through extortion to Canada, the US, Dubai, Thailand, and Australia for the use of their operatives abroad. The gangsters work closely with Pro-Khalistan elements (PKE)
“Brar and Bishnoi studied together at Panjab University in Chandigarh and later became close friends. Brar, along with other associates, was involved in various crimes such as extortion, murder, attempt to murder, etc. He is facilitating terror activities of the gang in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra, and acting as a bridge between Lawrence Bishnoi syndicate and pro-Khalistani elements or PKEs,” the NIA states.
NIA ARRESTS JAILED GANGSTER LAWRENCE BISHNOI’S KEY ABSCONDING AIDE ON DEPORTATION FROM THE UAE pic.twitter.com/PVRx6hqogo
— NIA India (@NIA_India) July 26, 2023
The targets for extortion and killing, according to the NIA, are chosen by Lawrence Bishnoi himself and Canada based co-leader of the gang Satinder Singh alias Goldy Brar, who allegedly also supervised the killing of singer Sidhu Moosewala in May 2022.
“This association has posed a new challenge for the security forces as together, the Khalistanis, gangsters and their handlers in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have a huge pool of resources in the form of men and logistics support with a readymade ecosystem. These elements are involved in high-profile political killings, smuggling of drugs, extortion and supply of tiffin bombs, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), RPGs (rocket propelled grenades), RDX, pistols, etc from across the border,” adds NIA.
NIA has so far arrested 16 persons in the terror-gangster conspiracy case. Further investigations into the conspiracy are continuing as part of NIA’s efforts to destroy the growing nexus between terrorists, gangsters and drug smugglers, and to dismantle their infrastructure, including funding channels.
In the recent months, the NIA has been successful at getting 5 ‘wanted’ absconders, either deported or extradited to India, due to the close coordination with central intelligence agencies and persistent follow-up with the concerned authorities in the foreign countries.
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