The raids were conducted at the premises of those associated with gangster Goldy Brar.
A day after chargesheeting Goldy Brar in the Karni Sena chief murder case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday searched nine locations in Punjab at the premises of associates of designated terrorist Goldy Brar in another case linked to Chandigarh-related extortion and firing and appealed for information about the terrorist and his gang.
The raids were conducted at the premises of those associated with foreign-based designated individual terrorist Goldy Brar and his aides, said the NIA.
The places searched by the NIA included Mohali, Patiala, Hoshiarpur and Fatehgarh Sahib in Punjab.
The NIA has also released telephone numbers for the public to share information about the terrorist and his associates or to reveal any threat calls they may have received from the gang.
"The information can be shared on landline number 0172-2682901 or mobile number 7743002947 (For Telegram/ WhatsApp). The identity of the informer will be kept a secret," reads an announcement released by the NIA.
The fresh crackdown was part of NIA's investigations into the case (RC-03/2024/NIA/DLI), pertaining to the demand for extortion money and the firing of gunshots at the residence of one victim in Chandigarh. The case was originally registered by the local police on January 20, 2024, and the NIA took over the probe on March 18.
"Today's searches covered the districts of Mohali, Patiala, Hoshiarpur and Fatehgarh Sahib, as part of NIA's sustained crackdown on individual terrorists engaged in criminal-terrorist activities in India. Incriminating material including digital devices have been seized," said the NIA in a statement.
Investigations so far have revealed that Goldy Brar, along with one Goldy of Rajpura (Punjab), had hatched a criminal conspiracy to generate funds by demanding extortion money from businessmen of Punjab, Chandigarh and surrounding areas, the anti-terror agency said. "They were also providing arms and ammunition to members of terrorist gangs formed by Brar. They were additionally involved in smuggling and sale of narcotics and channelisation of the proceeds from these sales."
As per NIA investigations, Goldy Brar and his associates based abroad were "continuously recruiting vulnerable youth into their gangs, using them for identification of extortion targets, firing in front of houses of those targets who refuse to pay the extortion money, and inducing them in sale and purchase of narcotics and weapon smuggling."
NIA further said it is continuing with its investigations to dismantle the terrorist gangster nexus operating in the country.
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