NIA Arrests UK National Over Vandalizing Indian Flag

On 26 Apr, India’s National Investigative Agency (NIA) said they have arrested Inderpal Singh Gaba, a resident of Hounslow, UK, for carrying out vandalism during the protests that took place on 22 Mar 2023. The NIA has intimated the UK embassy and is likely to share with them a case file of brief facts in coming days. A source said, ‘Gaba is a Sikh of Afghanistan origin who went to London in 1995 and started a grocery store. He runs three stores called Strawberry Local Group in Greater London and all his family members live there. Last year, he traveled from Dubai to Pakistan’s Nankana Sahib, a shrine he visits frequently. On 9 Dec 2023, when he was entering India via the Wagah border to visit the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple), he was caught by security agencies at the Attari border since a Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued against him. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs had issued LOCs against 15 people, who were identified from five video recordings of the violence. These videos were procured by an NIA team during its visit to the United Kingdom in May last year to investigate the incident and a suspected terror link involving Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. When he was detained, a team of intelligence agencies questioned him and seized his phone, from where data was extracted and analyzed. Gaba was released after questioning in December but was asked to join the investigation five times in the last four months. Gaba’s advocate Satwant Singh refused to comment on the matter.