The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested Vikramjeet Singh alias Vikram Brar, a key aide of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, following his deportation from the UAE to India, an official said on Wednesday.
In a statement, the agency said a team from the NIA had gone to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to facilitate this deportation and bring him back to India.
Brar was involved in the killing of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, besides targeted killings of innocent people and businessmen, the NIA said.
He was also involved in cases of smuggling of weapons and extortion in India with the help of dreaded gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and others.
"Absconding since 2020, Brar was wanted in at least 11 cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion under various sections of IPC as well as the Arms Act. Eleven look out notices had been issued against him by competent authority on request by various State Police, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi," it said.
The arrest was made on Tuesday in a terror-gangster conspiracy case that the federal agency is investigating.
The agency described it as "a major catch" in the terror-gangster-smuggler nexus case.
The agency spokesperson said, "Brar was operating as a 'communications control room' (CCR) for the Bishnoi terror gang from the UAE. This CCR was also facilitating calls of Bishnoi and Goldy Brar (based in Canada) and further upon their directions, he used to make extortion calls to various people."
The agency said Brar's CCR also enabled calls of main gang leaders with the operatives and members.
"An open-dated Non Bailable Warrant of Arrest (NBWA) had been issued by the NIA Special Court, Delhi. A Look Out Circular (LOC) was also issued in the name of the accused, who was charge-sheeted on March 24 last year in a case under various sections of IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act along with other 13 co-accused,” the spokesperson said.
According to NIA investigations, Brar had actively helped Goldy Brar in executing the killing of Moosewala. Bishnoi had also sent extorted money many times to Brar through hawala channels.
Brar had allegedly demanded extortion money from a doctor in Kurukshetra in Haryana and also threatened him, the agency said.
Before becoming a close associate of Bishnoi, Brar was associated with Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU).
"Along with other associates, he actively participated in various crimes like murder, attempt to murder and extortions. He had been assisting/facilitating the Bishnoi gang in targeted killings, extortions in Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab. He was also providing logistic support to the gang members,” the spokesperson said.
The NIA has so far arrested 16 people in the terror-gangster conspiracy case and further investigations into the conspiracy are continuing as part of its 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 in getting five "wanted" absconders either deported or extradited to India due to the close coordination with central intelligence agencies and persistent follow-up with the authorities concerned in foreign countries.
Bikramjit Singh alias "Bikkar Panjwar" alias "Bikkar Baba", the mastermind of Tarn Taran bomb blasts, was successfully extradited from Austria in December 2022. This was the first extradition case of its kind from a western country.
Prior to this, the only other extradition since the setting up of the NIA was that of Wuthikorn Naruenartwanich alias “Willy” in December 2015 from Thailand.
The other four deported accused were wanted for commission of serious and sensational crimes such as the Ludhiana court complex blast case. They are Kulwinderjit Singh alias “Khanpuria” of the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Harpreet Singh alias “Happy Malaysia”, Parminder Pal Singh alias “Bobby” and Aboobacker Haji.
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