New Delhi, June 9: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday carried out coordinated searches at 18 locations across Punjab and Haryana in connection with three terror-gangster network cases linked to Pakistan-based terrorist Shahzad Bhatti.
According to an official NIA statement, the searches were conducted at multiple premises spread across nine districts of the two states. During the operation, NIA teams examined several individuals to gather crucial information related to the investigations.
The agency said that various digital devices, documents and other materials connected with communication networks, financial transactions and activities of persons under its scanner were seized during the raids.
“All the evidence and information collected during the searches have been sent for forensic and technical examination to uncover the larger cross-border conspiracy,” the agency said.
NIA further revealed that notices have been issued to certain individuals directing them to join the investigation for further questioning. The searches were aimed at identifying associates and other persons linked to the terror conspiracy allegedly operated by gangster-turned-terrorist Shahzad Bhatti from across the border.
The probe in case RC-22/2025/NIA/DLI has established links between Shahzad Bhatti and the March 2025 grenade attack at the residence of social media influencer Roger Sandhu in Jalandhar, Punjab. In April 2026, NIA had chargesheeted Bhatti as an absconder along with another accused in the case.
Investigations have also connected Bhatti to the November 2025 explosion at the Women Police Station in Sirsa, Haryana, registered as RC-24/2025/NIA/DLI, and the January 2026 blast at Baldev Nagar Police Station in Ambala, Haryana, registered as RC-03/2026/NIA/DLI.
In the Sirsa case, NIA had filed a chargesheet against nine accused persons, including Shahzad Bhatti and another Pakistan-based handler, Sohail Ahmad alias Sohail Baloch, in May 2026.
The Baldev Nagar police station case pertains to a car bomb explosion, in which one arrested accused was found to have been in contact with Bhatti, the agency said.
NIA stated that investigations into all three cases are continuing as part of its efforts to trace every link in the terror network and expose the broader conspiracy behind the attacks. (KNC)
