KLF executed killing of RSS leader Ravinder Gosain: NIA

The murder of RSS leader Ravinder Gosain in Ludhiana was part of a transnational conspiracy hatched by the senior leadership of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) between January 2016 and October 2017, a NIA chargesheet said.

The chargesheet, filed on Friday at a special court in Mohali against fifteen persons, revealed that eight incidents of targeted killings were executed as part of this conspiracy to "destabilize the law and order situation in Punjab and to revive the fledgling terrorism in the state".

The killing of 60-year-old Gosain was part of the conspiracy. Gosain was shot dead on October 17, 2017 near his house while returning from a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) meeting. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) took over the case from Punjab Police.

The chargesheet said "all the persons targeted belonged to certain specific communities and organisations" and that the conspiracy had its footprints in several countries comprising "Pakistan, the UK, Australia, France, Italy and the United Arab Emirates".

"As part of the conspiracy, large amount of funds were supplied through Italy, Australia and the UK to the perpetrators of the killings, and attempted killings executed by accused persons Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh.

"These funds were used by them to purchase weapons for executing the killings and other logistics," the chargesheet said.

The conspiracy included recruitment and training of Hardeep and Ramandeep in Italy and Dubai respectively. Hardeep is a permanent resident of Italy while Ramandeep belongs to Ludhiana.

"Both these persons were trained by one Gursharanbir Singh, a UK national."

The chargesheet said that another UK national Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been arrested in the case, was involved in the funding of the conspiracy while the day to day coordination of the conspiracy was done by Pakistan-based Harmeet Singh.

Officials said that the chargesheet is based on evidence collected from oral, documentary, material and electronic sources. "Besides, evidence has been sought from several other countries."

Those named in the chargesheet are Hardeep, Ramandeep, Dharminder Singh, Anil Kumar, Jagtar, Amaninder Singh, Manpreet Singh, Ravipal, Pahad Singh, Parvez, Malook Tomar, Harmeet (suspected to be in Pakistan), Gurjinder Singh (suspected to be in Italy), Gursharanbir (suspected to be in UK) and Gurjant Singh (suspected to be in Australia).

The NIA has so far arrested 11 persons in various cases relating to the targeted killings.

--IANS

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