The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday said it has recovered Rs 20 lakh in cash and 130 live rounds in connection with the probe into Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) narco terror case.
The NIA conducted searches in Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts of Punjab at the premises of suspect Manpreet Singh of Kala Afghana, Teja Khurd, Batala, Amritsar, a close associate of charge-sheeted accused Ranjit Singh alias Cheetah and Iqbal Singh alias Shera in connection with investigation of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) Narco Terror Case, the agency said in a statement.
The case relates to arrest of Hilal Ahmad Shergojri, an over ground worker of HM and a close associate of Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, the then commander of HM who had come to Amritsar to collect the funds to further the terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rs 29 lakh along with a Tata truck was seized from the accused on April 25 last year by Punjab Police.
This case was originally registered as case FIR number 135/20 dated April 25, 2020 at Police Station Sadar, Amritsar City, Punjab, under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 in connection with seizure of Rs 29 lakhs which were drug proceeds. Subsequently sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act were added during investigation.
The case was re-registered by NIA on May 8, 2020 and took up the investigation.
The NIA has filed chargesheets against 11 accused persons in Special NIA Court, Mohali in the case.
“During investigation, it was revealed that Manpreet Singh a hawala operator, had collected heroin, drug proceeds and weapons and transported them in his i20 and Verna car as per directions of accused Ranjit Singh alias Cheetah and Iqbal Singh alias Shera. Further, Manpreet Singh delivered the drugs proceeds to the tune of Rs 35 lakh and weapons to the charge-sheeted accused Bikram Singh alias Vicky, relative of Ranjeet Singh during the month of March, 2020,” the NIA said in a statement.
During the searches conducted on Thursday, Rs 20 lakh (drug proceeds) 130 live rounds of 9 mm, mobile phones, pen drive, one bunch of polythene bags used for packing heroin, one Hyundai Verna car, a two wheeler, documents related to properties, and other incriminating documents have been seized from the house of the suspect, it added.