Srinagar, October 20:(GNS) NIA on Tuesday filed 14000 pages chargesheet against 10 accused persons including Hjzb Chief Reyaz Naiko in Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM) Narco-militancy Case in NIA Special Court at Mohali, Punjab.
In a statement to media, the NIA said that the chargesheet has been filed u/s 120B, 419, 471, 489C of IPC, sections 8, 21, 23, 12 24, 25, 27, 27A, 29 & 31 of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, sections 17, 18, 20, 38 and 40 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and section 12(1)(b) of Indian Passports Act against the following accused persons Hilal Ahmed Shergojri, 35 years, resident of Pulwama (Arrested), Bikram Singh, 27 years resident of Amritsar (Arrested), Maninder Singh, 22 years, resident of Amritsar (Arrested), Ranjit Singh, 42 years, resident of Gurdaspur (Arrested), Jaswant Singh, 25 years resident of Gurdaspur (Arrested), Ranjit Singh, 41 years resident of Amritsar (Arrested), Gagandeep Singh, 27 years resident of Amritsar (Arrested), Iqbal Singh,24 years, resident of Amritsar (Absconding), Zafar Hussain Bhat, 52 years, resident of Anantnag, Presently in Pakistan (Absconding) and Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, resident Pulwam (Killed)
This case arose out of Police station Sadar Amritsar Case no. 135 dated 25.04.2020 pertaining to arrest of one Hilal Ahmed Shergojri and recovery of Rs. 29 Lacs from his possession, by Punjab Police on 25.04.2020. NIA took up the investigation of the case on 08.05.2020.
During investigation by NIA, it emerged that accused Hilal, who had come to Amritsar to collect the amount of Rs 29 Lacs, was a member of militant organization Hizb-ul –Mujahideen (HM) and a close associate of Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, the then HM commander of Kashmir Valley.
The statement further said that, this led to busting of a major Narco-miltancy module involved in smuggling and selling of Heroin in India and channelizing of drug-proceeds to Pakistan through hawala and to the HM militants based in J&K.
Investigation also unearthed the conspiracy hatched by Pakistan-based HM commanders and their associates and militant gangs in Punjab to support and augment the militancy infrastructure of HM in India by raising money through drug smuggling/drug pedalling.
During investigation, it emerged that the accused had received at least six (06) consignments of heroin through Attari Indo-Pakistan Border in the garb of importing Rock Salt granules from Pakistan. Of these, money proceeds of five (05) consignments were partly sent back to Pakistan through hawala operators while a substantial portion was channelized to HM militants in Kashmir through a network of OGWs and other associates. In July 2019, 6th consignment of around 532 Kgs of heroin was seized at Attari Border and a separate case was registered, which was investigated and charge-sheeted by NIA.
During investigation, NIA carried out searches at 15 locations belonging to the suspects and accused in Punjab, Haryana and J&K. So far, INR 98.5 lacs, 8 vehicles and 3 Kgs of heroin have been seized from the accused and investments worth many crores have been identified. During searches, incriminating documents related to benami properties and digital gadgets including mobile phones, pen drives and laptops were seized and forensically examined.
Many incriminating chats between accused persons have been recovered from the seized digital devices.
Further investigation in the case is continued, reads the statement.(GNS)
