The National Investigation Agency (NIA) filed a chargesheet on Saturday against eight accused, including Pakistani gangster-turned-terrorist Shehzad Bhatti, in connection with the IED car bomb blast in the parking area of Ambala’s Baldev Nagar police station in Haryana this January.
Besides the Pakistani national and handler Bhatti, other Indian nationals named in the chargesheet filed before the Special NIA Court in Panchkula (Haryana) are Karamjit Singh alias Tony, Akash, Soureb alias Sobi alias Sourab, Raman Kumar, Satyam, Sukhdev Singh alias Sukha, Amarjeet Singh alias Ambi, a statement issued by the NIA said.
The anti-terror agency detailed the roles of the accused and the conspiracy orchestrated by Bhatti to attack Baldev Nagar police station in Ambala, Haryana, aiming to spread terror among the people by targeting police establishments.
The Pakistani terrorist, wanted in other terrorist cases too, had established operational modules in India and assigned local operatives to arrange logistics and explosive substances for carrying out attacks at police establishments as part of the conspiracy, according to NIA’s findings.
Akash was Bhatti’s principal India-based operative, responsible for coordinating the attacks with the co-accused, said the statement. The NIA found during the investigation that the Baldev Nagar police station was targeted following reconnaissance of potential targets.
It said some of the accused parked the car, packed with gas cylinders and explosive substances, in the police station premises and even videographed the scene for dissemination and publicity.
The NIA investigation revealed that Bhatti had recruited and radicalised the accused through social media platforms and encrypted communication channels. It also established, through various digital, electronic, documentary and forensic evidence, that the accused had remained in touch with the handler during the planned attack.
The NIA, continuing its investigation into the case, uncovered a chain of recruitment, financing, operational coordination, procurement of explosive substances, and execution of the terrorist act by the accused, all on Bhatti’s direction.
