Punjab RSS leader killing: NIA files charge sheet against 15 people

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a charge sheet against 15 people today in a case related to the killing of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) leader Ravinder Gosain in Punjab's Ludhiana in October last year.

Gosain had just returned from an RSS shakha' when he was shot dead outside his house.

The charge sheet was filed in a special NIA court in Mohali.

Those charge-sheeted by the agency include Ravipal, Pahad Singh, Parvez alias Farru, Malook Tomar, Harmeet Singh alias Ph.D (suspected to be in Pakistan), Gurjinder Singh alias Shastri (suspected to be in Italy), Gursharanbir Singh (suspected to be in the UK) and Gurjant Singh (suspected to be in Australia), the agency said in a statement.

Hardeep Singh alias Shera, Ramandeep Singh alias Canadian, Dharminder Singh alias Guguni, Anil Kumar alias Kala, Jagtar Singh Johal alias Jaggi, Amaninder Singh and Manpreet Singh alias Mani have also been charge-sheeted in the case, it said.

During investigation, it was found that the killing of Gosain was part of a transnational conspiracy hatched by the senior leadership of the Khalistan Liberation Force, the statement said.

Eight incidents of targeted killing/attempted killing were executed as part of this conspiracy between January 2016 and October 2017 in Punjab.

All the persons targeted belonged to certain communities and organisations, it said.

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 NIA said.

"It was found that the conspiracy had its footprints in several countries including Pakistan, UK, Australia, France, Italy and the UAE. As part of the conspiracy, a large amount of funds were supplied through Italy, Australia and the UK to the perpetrators of the killings/attempted killings, viz. 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 and the UAE respectively, the NIA said.

Hardeep Singh is a permanent resident of Italy while Ramandeep Singh belongs to Ludhiana, it said.

They were trained by 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, the probe agency said.

"Day to day coordination of the conspiracy was done by Pakistan-based Harmeet Singh alias Ph.D. The charge sheet is based on evidence collected from oral, documentary, material and electronic sources. Besides, evidence has been sought from several other countries," it said.

The accused have been charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and the Arms Act, 1959.