National Investigation Agency (NIA) secured a 100 per cent conviction rate in 2024, with 68 accused convicted in the 25 cases decided by Special NIA courts across the country.
A total of 210 accused were arrested across key categories of crimes —
Left-wing extremism
, northeast insirgency,
Khalistani terrorism
, gangster-terrorist-smuggler nexus etc —in 80 cases registered by NIA in 2024.
A total 662 raids and searches were carried out by the agency across the country.
The bygone year was marked by convictions of 68 accused (in 25 cases) and charge sheeting of 408 accused. NIA got 137 properties/assets worth Rs 19.57 crore attached during 2024.
In terms of cases registered by NIA during the year, those linked to Left-wing extremism and northeast insurgency topped the list at 28 and 18 cases respectively. Seven cases related to terrorism in J&K and four to Khalistan elements were also filed.
As many as 69 of the total 210 arrests made by NIA were in Left Wing Extremism cases.
North-east insurgency was also high on NIA’s radar with 15 arrests, of which 5 were in two cases linked to the Independence Day boycott call given by Parsh Baruah-led ULFA(I) in Assam.
The crackdown on the growing terrorist-gangster was also a key highlight of the year. NIA arrested 14 accused in connection with foreign-based Khalistani terrorist cases during the year, which saw 101 searches and 13 arrests in these cases.
The agency’s agile efforts in cracking terrorism cases were evident in the fact that it had charge sheeted Pakistan-based Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) chief Wadhawa Singh @ Babbar and five other terrorists in the murder of VHP leader Vikas Prabhakar @ Vikas Bagga in Punjab within months of the fatal attack.
Similarly, 10 accused, including foreign-based terrorist Goldy Brar, were expeditiously chargesheeted in the case pertaining to firing for extortion at the house of a businessman in Chandigarh by aides of Brar. Early in the year, NIA had also charge sheeted Khalistan Terrorist Force (KTF) members Manpreet Singh alias Peeta and Mandeep Singh, after their successful deportation from Philippines.
Another notable development in Khalistani terror-related cases was the successful extradition of Tarsem Singh Sandhu of Tarn Taran district of Punjab from UAE, in a case of conspiracy of KLF, BKI & ISYF to wage war against the country. As far as extraditions secured by NIA are concerned, another accused, Salman Khan, was brought in from Rwanda in an arms seizure case of Bengaluru, Karnataka.
There were arms seizures by NIA from across the country, including locations like Jammu, Jaipur, Ranchi, Patna, and Chandigarh.
The anti-terror agency scaled up its operations multifold in 2024, cracking the Rameshwaram café blast case, which rocked the nation early in the year, within months.
A total of 27 absconding criminals were nabbed by NIA during the year. Notable among them was Savad, who was nabbed after being on the run for 13 years in the Kerala Professor hand chopping case.
