In what is being seen as a major catch in the terror-gangster-smuggler nexus case, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested Vikramjeet Singh (alias Vikram Brar), a key aide of notorious jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, immediately after his deportation from the United Arab Emirates to India. An NIA team had gone to the UAE to facilitate this deportation and bring him back to India.
Brar, allegedly involved in the sensational killing of famous Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh, better known as Sidhu Moose Wala, was taken into custody by the NIA.
Besides targeted killings of people, including businessmen, Brar was involved in cases of smuggling of weapons and extortion in India with the help of dreaded gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar, and others, said sources.
Absconding since 2020, Brar was wanted in at least 11 cases of murder, attempt to murder, and extortion under various sections of the Indian Penal Code as well as the Arms Act. Eleven look-out Notices had been issued against him by the competent authorities on request by various state police, including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi.
According to officials, Vikram Brar was operating as a ‘communications control room’ (CCR) for the Lawrence Bishnoi terror gang from the UAE. This CCR was also facilitating calls of Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar (based in Canada), and further upon their directions, he used to make extortion calls to various people. Brar’s CCR also enabled calls of main gang leaders with the operatives/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, 2022, in NIA case no. RC-39/2022/NIA/DLI under sections 120B and 384 of IPC, sections 17 and 18 of the UA(P) Act, 1967, along with 13 co-accused.
In 2020-2022, according to NIA investigations, Vikram Brar had actively helped Goldy Brar in executing the killing of Moose Wala. Lawrence Bishnoi had also sent extorted money many times to Brar through hawala channels. Brar had allegedly demanded extortion money from a doctor in Kurukshetra (Haryana) and also threatened him.
Before becoming a close associate of Bishnoi, Vikram Brar was linked to the Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU). Along with other associates, he actively participated in various crimes like murder, attempt-to-murder, and extortion, etc, say officials. He had allegedly been assisting and facilitating the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in targeted killings and extortions in Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab, while also providing logistical support.
The NIA has so far arrested 16 people in the terror-gangster conspiracy case. Further investigations are continuing as part of the agency’s efforts to destroy the growing nexus between terrorists, gangsters, and drug smugglers, and to dismantle their infrastructure, including funding channels.
In 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 concerned authorities in foreign countries.
Bikramjit Singh (alias Bikkar Panjwar or Bikkar Baba), the mastermind of the 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 the commission of serious and sensational crimes, such as the Ludhiana Court Complex blast case, etc. They were 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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