Journalism of Courage
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has been handed over the probe in the case in which a man allegedly linked to the Khalistan separatist movement was arrested from Chakan in Pune. The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) that was probing the case till now had arrested one more suspect from Delhi in connection with the incident.
On December 2 last year, the ATS had arrested the suspect, identified as Harpalsingh Pratapsingh Naik (42), a native of Ropar district in Punjab and recovered from him a firearm and some live rounds of ammunition. Police had also recovered an identity card of an engineering manufacturing major and the person’s bank account details. The probe had found that Naik believed in the idea of a separate Khalistan country and was active on the Internet. He allegedly used social media for inciting youths to carry out terror attacks in the country, the ATS had said after his arrest.
A senior officer from the ATS said: “Considering the interstate and international scope of the probe, the case has been handed over to the NIA according to the instruction from the central government. All cases of Khalistan separatist links are being probed by the NIA. The process of handing over the probe to the central agency is over.”
The ATS probe had brought to light the links of Naik with some operatives in Pakistan and United Kingdom who were suspected to have encouraged him to work for the cause of a separate Khalistan. He was suspected to have become part of the “Referendum 2020” movement and to have been connected to thousands of people through platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. The police had invoked sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against Naik and Khan.
