Probing 6 cases against Pannun, NIA attaches his three properties

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has attached three properties of designated terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun against whom it is currently investigating six cases. The properties include his share of a house in Chandigarh, 46 kanal land at his ancestral Khankot village in Amritsar and another land parcel measuring 11 kanal, 13.5 marlas in Sultanwind, Amritsar.

Of the six cases being investigated by the NIA include one registered on November 20, 2023, over Pannun’s video message on social media threatening Air India with a global blockade and closure of its operations from November 19 (birth anniversary of former PM Indira Gandhi).

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The anti-terror agency had booked Pannun under Sections 120B, 153A and 506 of the IPC and Sections 10, 13, 16, 17, 18, 18B and 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

Pannun, the self-proclaimed “general counsel” of the outlawed Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), had released and circulated video messages on various social media platforms urging Sikhs not to travel with Air India on and after November 19, 2023, claiming threat to their lives.

Pannun had threatened that Air India would not be allowed to operate. His assertions and threats had triggered a high alert as well as investigations by security agencies in Canada, India and certain other countries where Air India operates.

Pannun has been under the NIA lens since 2019, when the agency registered its first case against him. Non-bailable arrest warrants were issued against him by the NIA Special Court on February 3, 2021, and he was declared a proclaimed offender on November 29, 2022. In September this year, the NIA conducted searches at four locations across Punjab in a case related to the promotion of terror-related activities and violence by Pannun.

Further details on the nature of the cases and the properties involved are yet to be disclosed. The agency continues to pursue leads in an effort to curb activities related to Pannun and his associates.

In September this year, the NIA conducted searches at four locations across Punjab in a case related to the promotion of terror-related activities and violence by the SFJ leader. The NIA teams swooped down at one location in Moga, two locations in Bathinda and one location in Mohali. The searches led to the seizure of various incriminating materials, including digital devices, which are under examination.