NIA files charge-sheet against Khalistani terrorist Arsh Dala’s aide Preeta

New Delhi, Jan 4 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday charge-sheeted Manpreet Singh, a close aide of designated individual terrorist Arshdeep Singh alias "Arsh Dala", in the terror-gangster network case, an official said.

Manpreet Singh alias "Peeta" was arrested last year following his deportation from the Philippines.

The charge-sheet was filed against Peeta in the multi-state terrorist-gangster-drug smuggler network case registered in 2022 before the Special NIA Court in Delhi, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.

The official said this was the third charge-sheet in the case, in which 21 accused have so far been charge-sheeted.

"Peeta was operating as a full-fledged crime-terror-extortion node from the Philippines as per the directions of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) operative, Canada-based, Dala. He was actively involved in collection of weapons from the India-Pakistan border and making extortion calls to raise funds for Dala and the KTF," the spokesperson said.

The central government had in February 2023 banned the KTF and declared it as a terrorist organisation.

Peeta was also engaged in recruiting members for the terrorist group to execute terror crimes and conspiracies, the spokesperson said.

The official said the charge-sheet marks another major step in the NIA's efforts to disrupt, destroy and dismantle the terror-gangster nexus, which extends across many states within India and also many countries. PTI