During a high-level meeting on Tuesday in New Delhi, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray informed National Investigation Agency (NIA) Director General Dinkar Gupta about the US’ “aggressive investigation” into the attacks on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on 19 March and 2 July of this year.
FBI, NIA Discuss Criminal-Terrorist Nexus
According to a statement released by the NIA, wide-ranging discussions were held on a variety of issues, including terrorist-organised criminal networks’ acts and activities, ongoing investigations in the US into the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, and cyber-terror and cyber-crime investigations of various kinds.
Gupta emphasised the active link between terrorist outfits and terrorist elements and members of Organised Crime Syndicates, which was spreading to the US.
Speaking on this link, Wray stated that a blurring of the lines between terrorists and criminals was now evident in cyberspace as well.
Wray further pointed out that terrorist attacks, such as 9/11 in the US and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, changed how nations respond to terror threats and emphasised the importance of taking the partnership and cooperation between the FBI and the NIA to the next level to deal with evolving difficulties and dangers of terrorism.
Increasing Threats in Cyber Domain: NIA Chief
During the meeting, the NIA chief stated that cyber threats were increasing. Terrorists and extremists were also efficiently using digital space to disseminate radical beliefs, and for recruitment, he said, adding that the NIA was witnessing the “use of cryptocurrency for terrorist financing.”
Likewise, Wray said that cybercrime is increasingly being used to fund terrorism. The increasing severity of the cyber-threat necessitates a joint response to cyber-threat investigation, he stressed.
Breaking: "FBI was aggressively investigating the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco", FBI chief tells NIA chief https://t.co/5q4x5vu1jx
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As per the statement, the difficulties faced by law enforcement agencies around the world in obtaining data from encryption apps were also discussed during the meeting.
“Both the agencies recognised the challenges posed by organised crime networks, terror related crimes, cyber enabled terror attacks, ransomware threats, economic crimes and transnational terror crimes,” the readout said.
The risks faced by organised crime networks, terror-related crimes, cyber-enabled terror attacks, ransomware threats, economic crimes, and transnational terror crimes were highlighted by both agencies, the statement said.
Wray further indicated that greater difficulties provide new opportunities for law enforcement agencies to collaborate in new ways. He thanked the NIA for the two agencies’ long-standing cooperation and expressed interest in exploring potential opportunities to collaborate further.
In his concluding remarks, the DG NIA appreciated the FBI for being a vital partner in the training and development of Indian police officers.
Pro-Khalistan Attacks on Indian Consulate
In July, pro-Khalistan activists attempted to set fire to an Indian consulate in San Francisco in response to the death of separatist Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) Chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.
Earlier, on 19 March, a group of pro-Khalistan protestors stormed and damaged the Indian consulate in San Francisco. Protesters shouting slogans broke through improvised security barricades set there by local police and placed two Khalistani flags inside the consulate premises. These flags were quickly removed by consular personnel.
Khalistani activists vandalised the consulate in March, when the Punjab Police in India were conducting a nationwide search for pro-Khalistani leader Amritpal Singh.
Amritpal is an ardent advocate of the Khalistan movement, which supports Punjab’s secession from India. He also led Waris Punjab De, an association formed to gather farmers in opposition to reforms implemented and then overturned by Indian PM Narendra Modi’s government.
The FBI chief’s visit coincides with instances of activities of pro-Khalistan elements operating from the US and Canada and also an indictment filed by US prosecutors in a federal court in Manhattan last month, alleging that an Indian government employee, identifying himself as a “senior field officer” responsible for intelligence, ordered the assassination of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.