NIA probes drone-based arms smuggling across India-Pakistan border
They said the counter-terrorism agency, acting on the directive of the Union home ministry, has registered a case to probe the alleged role of Jasvir Chaudhary, a Pakistan-based terror operative, his Indian associate Shubham Kumar and other unidentified persons.
The case was first registered by the Punjab Police in February this year.
The State Special Operations Cell (SSOC), Amritsar, had received reliable information that on Chaudhary’s instructions, his Indian partners had obtained a large consignment of arms, ammunition and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) dropped through drones along the India-Pakistan border with the aim of carrying out explosions at various places in Punjab, Delhi and other parts of the country, they said.
An FIR in this regard was registered by the state police on February 10.
The home ministry, in its order, said the case relates to a criminal conspiracy hatched by a “foreign element” to carry out terrorist acts in India with the use of arms, ammunition and explosives.
Considering the seriousness of the crime, serious security implications, national and international links and the need to unravel the larger conspiracy, the incident should be investigated by the NIA, with a view to investigation by the federal agency, the order said.
NIA had also registered an FIR last month to investigate the gun-laying incident in Punjab.
