NIA searches premises in Pune, Haryana over Khalistani attack at Indian Consulate in San Francisco

New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday carried out searches at over 15 locations in Punjab and Haryana in connection with its probe into the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco in March this year by Khalistani supporters.

As part of the probe, the NIA on November 14 had requested for evidence from the US authorities under the mutual legal assistance treaty, according to agency sources.

The sources said that 45 faces zeroed in via CCTV footage scanning have been mostly identified through crowd sourcing.

On September 21, the NIA had released the pictures of 10 wanted accused in the March 2023 case of attack and vandalism at the Consulate and sought information about them from the general public.

The agency has also issued three separate “Request for Identification and Information” notices against the wanted accused, seeking any information of importance that could lead to their arrest or apprehension.

While two of the notices carry photographs of two accused each, the third shows pictures of the other six accused allegedly involved in the case.

The attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco had taken place in the intervening night of March 18 and 19 when some pro-khalistan entities trespassed into the mission and tried to burn it down.

On the same day, slogan-shouting Khalistani supporters had broken through the makeshift security barriers raised by the city police and put up two so-called Khalistani flags in the Consulate premises, damaged the building, assaulted and caused injuries to the officials.

In the intervening night of July 1 and 2, some accused persons had again trespassed into the Consulate and attempted to set it on fire while officials were inside the building.

The NIA had initiated a probe in the matter after registering a case on June 16 this year under several sections of IPC, UA (P) Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

An NIA team had visited San Francisco in August in connection with the agency's probe.

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