NIA charge-sheets Pakistan-based Babbar Khalsa chief

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday charge-sheeted Wadhawa Singh, Pakistan-based chief of the banned Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), and five other terrorists in connection with the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Vikas Prabhakar in Punjab in April.

Prabhakar, also known as Vikas Bagga, was shot dead by the terrorists belonging to a BKI module at his confectionary shop at Nangal in Punjab's Roopnagar district on April 13, 2024.

Two of the three arrested accused have been identified as shooters Mandeep Kumar alias Mangli and Surinder Kumar alias Rika, both residents of Nawanshahar in Punjab.


The accused have been charged under various sections of the UA(P) Act, IPC and Arms Act.

The third arrested accused charge-sheeted by the NIA is Gurpreet Ram alias Gora, who is also from Nawanshahr and charged under the Arms Act, NIA said.

The three absconders were the handlers of the arrested accused. Babbar, currently based in Pakistan, along with Harjit Singh alias Laddi of Nawanshahar and Kulbeer Singh alias Sidhu of Yamunanagar, Haryana, had provided the arms, ammunition and funds to carry out the murder, NIA said.

The federal agency that took over the case from the state police on May 9, 2024, found a transnational conspiracy of BKI behind the deadly terror attack. Several members of the BKI module based in various countries came together to carry out the targeted killing, as per the NIA investigations.