Haryana toll plaza IED recovery case: NIA files supplementary charge sheet against 3

New Delhi, March 1 The NIA on Wednesday said that they have filed a supplementary charge sheet in connection with a case of seizure of IEDs, arms and ammunition from Bastara Toll Plaza in Haryana's Karnal against three associates of designated terrorist Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda.

The supplementary charge sheet was filed against Akash alias Akashdeep, Sukhbeer Singh alias Jashan and Jarmalpreet Singh.

"The accused trio are said to be close associates of 'designated terrorist' Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias Rinda. They joined hands with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a banned terrorist organisation," the NIA said in the charge sheet.

In this case, three IEDs, one pistol, two magazines, and 31 live rounds and Rs 1.30 lakh cash were recovered from four persons Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi, Amandeep Singh alias Deepa, Parminder Singh alias Pinder and Bhupinder Singh travelling in an Innova vehicle which had been modified to hide these IEDs, pistol and ammunition in a specially designed cavity.

They were on their way to Adilabad in Telangana to deliver the consignment of terror hardware on the directions of Harwinder Rinda, when they were intercepted by the police at Bastara Toll Plaza on May 5, 2022.

The case was initially registered at police station Madhuban, District Karnal and re-registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

First charge sheet was filed against six accused persons, including Harwinder Rinda on October 31, 2022.

In its supplementary charge sheet filed before Special Court Panchkula, the NIA has charged Akash alias Akashdeep, Sukhbir alias Jashan and Jarmalpreet, under section 120(B) of IPC, sections 13, 18, 20 and 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act and sections 4, 5 and 6 of the Explosives Substances Act.

"Investigations into the case have revealed that Akash alias Akashdeep, Sukhbeer alias Jashan and Jarmalpreet Singh were in touch with terrorist Harwinder Rinda and are close associates of the persons arrested at Bastara Toll Plaza. They had also retrieved the consignment of arms, ammunition and explosives sent by Harwinder Rinda from across the border via drones. Rinda had sent these consignments to carry out terror attacks in the country in the name of BKI," the NIA has alleged in the charge sheet.