Masih was shot dead outside a church on July 15, 2017 in Peerubanda Mohalla area in Ludhiana; Sharma, the district publicity manager of Shri Hindu Takht, was gunned down near Shri Durga Mata Mandir on January 14, 2017 in Ludhiana.
MOHALI – The National Investigation Agency (NIA), on Monday, filed a common charge-sheet against 15 accused in the targeted killings of pastor Sultan Masih and Hindu leader Amit Sharma in 2017.
Masih was shot dead outside a church on July 15, 2017 in Peerubanda Mohalla area in Ludhiana; Sharma, the district publicity manager of Shri Hindu Takht, was gunned down near Shri Durga Mata Mandir on January 14, 2017 in Ludhiana.
The 1,500-page chargesheet was filed, in a special NIA court in Mohali, against Hardeep Singh alias Shera alias Pahalwan, Ramandeep Singh alias Canadian alias Bagga, Dharminder Singh alias Guguni, Anil Kumar alias Kala, Jagtar Singh Johal alias Jaggi, Amaninder Singh, Manpreet Singh alias Mani, Ravipal, Pahad Singh, Parvez alias Farru, Malook Tomar, Harmeet Singh alias PhD, Gurjant Singh, Gursharanbir Singh and Gurjinder Singh Shastri.
The next date of hearing is May 22.
Four of the accused, Harmeet (suspected to be in Pakistan), Gurjant (Australia), Gursharanbir (UK) and Gurjinder (Italy) have been declared proclaimed offenders (POs). As per the NIA investigation, they are the mastermind behind the targeted killings and recruited and trained Hardeep Singh (Shera), a resident of Italy, and Ramandeep Singh (Bagga) of Ludhiana.One of the accused, KLF chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, died of cardiac arrest in Patiala Central Jail in April.
Investigation had pointed out that the conspiracy was hatched to de-stabilise communal harmony and killings were part of a conspiracy that the senior leadership of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) is accused of masterminding. The probe also found that the accused attempted eight targeted killings across the state, mainly of BJP/RSS leaders, between January 2016 and October 2017.
The accused have been booked under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder) 379 (theft), 416 (cheating) of the IPC and under relevant sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and the Arms Act.
NIA seeks discharge of Jimmy
On Monday, the NIA also sought discharge of Taljit Singh alias Jimmy, a Jammu native who had gone to the UK to study. The agency claimed that it did not have sufficient evidence against him at this stage.
