Indian Consulate attacks: NIA raids 14 places in Punjab, Haryana

The National Investigation Agency on Wednesday carried out raids at 14 locations in Punjab and Haryana in connection with its probe into attacks on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco in the US earlier this year, an official spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said these places located in north India were raided to unravel the complete conspiracy behind the attacks on March 19 and July 2, involving criminal trespass, vandalism, damage to public property and attempts to cause hurt to the consulate officials and set the building on fire through acts of arson.

The locations raided by the NIA were spread across the districts of Moga, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Gurdaspur, Mohali and Patiala in Punjab and Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar in Haryana.

The crackdown led to the seizure of digital data containing information related to the accused persons, along with other incriminating documents, the spokesperson said.

The NIA has been probing the case with the aim to identify and prosecute the attackers and send a strong message to such anti-Indian elements.

A team of the NIA had visited San Francisco in August 2023 to probe the incidents of attacks on the consulate.

As part of its investigation, the NIA has crowdsourced information to identify and collect information about US-based entities and individuals involved in these violent incidents.

On July 2, India's consulate in San Francisco came under an attack from Khalistan supporters who tried to set the diplomatic facility on fire. Tha attack came following the killing of separatist Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

On March 19, a group of pro-Khalistan protesters attacked and damaged the Indian Consulate in San Francisco.

Raising pro-Khalistan slogans, the protesters broke open the makeshift security barriers raised by the local police and installed two so-called Khalistani flags inside the Consulate premises. Two consulate personnel soon removed these flags.