The Special Court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) at Mohali in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar District of Punjab dismissed the bail application of a UK citizen identified as Jagtar Singh alias Jaggi Johal, accused in targeted killing cases in the State, reports Indian Express on June 25. The bail plea of the accused was dismissed on the ground that he was part of a “larger conspiracy to destabilise the security of Punjab”. The case was initially registered on February 4, 2016, under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 25 of Arms Act at Basti Jodhewal Police Station in Ludhiana, on the complaint lodged by Amit Arora. Thereafter, investigation of the case was handed over to NIA on December 8, 2017.
During the investigation, the NIA found that Hardeep Singh alias Shera and Ramandeep Singh alias Bagga tried to murder Arora on February 3, 2016, at Basti Jodhewal. It was also found that an attempt made to kill Arora was part of a larger conspiracy hatched by the terrorist organisation Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), which involved eight incidents of targeted killings/attempted killings and objective of this conspiracy was to destabilise the law and order in the State. It has also come on record that funds facilitated by Johal were handed over to accused Hardeep Singh, who along with Ramandeep Singh used them to carry out the incidents of targeted killings.