The National Investigation Agency on Thursday arrested an accused deported from the United Arab Emirates in the targeted killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Vikas Prabhakar by the banned Babbar Khalsa International in Punjab’s Roopnagar in April 2024. Harwinder Kumar alias Sonu was taken into custody soon after arrival at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi following diplomatic efforts to secure his return.
Logistics and financing alleged from abroad
Investigators allege Sonu operated from the UAE and provided logistical support and financing to the perpetrators. Prabhakar was shot at his confectionery shop in Nangal, Roopnagar, on 13 April 2024. The NIA registered the case on 9 May 2024 and has filed three chargesheets so far. On 13 August 2026 it arrested another UAE-based accused, Manveer Ram, allegedly involved in supplying weapons, after intercepting him at Amritsar airport.
The twin UAE-linked arrests underline New Delhi’s push to combine diplomacy with deportation pipelines against Khalistani terror modules. Agencies say overseas facilitators remain critical to weapons and money flows even when shooters are recruited locally, making Gulf cooperation a standing priority.
What custodial interrogation may reveal
Further questioning will test how the financing chain connects to BKI handlers and whether more deportations are in the pipeline. Intelligence inputs shared with Punjab Police suggest other facilitators may still be at large in the Gulf. Reporting: The Hindu.
Security context
Punjab and Delhi police continue joint monitoring of radical networks as deportations from Gulf states rise — a thread that remains central to national-security coverage this year. Officials say looking beyond the shooter to overseas logistics is now standard practice in such probes.
Today’s News 1 Oct 2026 · 21 stories
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