NEW DELHI: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is “aggressively” investigating the attacks on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on March 19 and July 2 this year, chief of premier US agency Christopher Wray told the National Investigation Agency (NIA) director general Dinkar Gupta during a high-level meeting on Tuesday in Delhi.

Gupta told the delegation led by Wray, which visited NIA headquarters on Tuesday, that the nexus of terrorists and gangsters was “spreading to the US as well”.

“Christopher A Wray, Director FBI, leading a high-level FBI delegation, visited the NIA headquarters on Tuesday and held extensive discussions with NIA DG, Dinkar Gupta, and senior officials...During the meeting, candid and wide-ranging discussions were held on a host of issues, including the acts and activities of Terrorist-Organised Criminal Networks, ongoing investigations in the US in the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, investigation of cyber-terror and cyber-crimes of various kinds,” a NIA spokesperson said in a statement.

“Mr. Wray also informed the NIA that the FBI was aggressively investigating the attack on the Indian Consulate in San Francisco,” the spokesperson added.

The consulate was attacked by pro-Khalistan supporters on July 2 who tried to set the diplomatic facility on fire following the killing of separatist Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Earlier, on March 19, a group of pro-Khalistan protesters attacked and damaged the Indian consulate in San Francisco. Raising slogans, the protesters broke open the makeshift security barriers raised by the local police and installed two so-called Khalistani flags inside the consulate premises. Two consulate personnel soon removed these flags.

A team of NIA had visited San Fransisco in August to collect evidence including the CCTV footage and exchange information regarding the attacks with local law enforcement agencies there.

The FBI chief is on a three-day visit to the country to meet top security and intelligence officials for discussions on strengthening mutual cooperation, sharing information, cybercrimes, extraditions etc. He met Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Praveen Sood on Monday.

The visit, although planned in May, comes against the backdrop of activities of pro-Khalistan elements operating from the US and Canadian soil and an indictment filed by US prosecutors in a federal court in Manhattan last month, which alleged an Indian government employee who described himself as a “senior field officer” responsible for intelligence, ordered the assassination of Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

People familiar with the matter said that the Khalistan issue and extradition of fugitives were discussed in detail by top CBI and NIA officials during their meetings with the visiting FBI director.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the NIA spokesperson said Gupta also “highlighted the active nexus between the terrorist outfits and terrorist elements with members of organised criminal syndicates, which was spreading to the US as well”.

Wray underscored that both agencies have a lot in common and the similarities are far greater than the differences.

“On the nexus between terror actors and organised crime syndicates, Wray said that a blending of lines between terrorists and criminals was now visible in the cyberspace as well,” NIA added.

On the impact of 9/11 attacks in the US and 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Wray underlined that these terror attacks “have changed the way in which nations respond to terror threats” and stressed the need to take the partnership and cooperation between the two agencies “to the next level to deal with the constantly evolving challenges and threats of terrorism”.

During the meeting, Gupta also pointed out that threats in the cyber domain were increasing. “Digital space was also being effectively exploited by terrorists and extremists for propagating radical views and recruitment”. He further added that NIA was seeing the use of cryptocurrency for terrorist financing, according to the spokesperson.

Wray and NIA top brass also further discussed the use of cybercrimes to fund terrorism. “This evolution of the cyber-threat needs a joint response towards investigation of cyber-threat cases,” Wray stressed, according to the NIA statement.

The issue of obtaining data from encrypted apps was also taken up during the meeting. “The difficulties encountered by the law enforcement agencies across the world in obtaining data from encryption Apps also came up for discussion 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. Wray also remarked that newer challenges mean that there are new opportunities for law enforcement agencies (LEA) to cooperate in newer ways. He thanked the NIA for the enduring cooperation between the two agencies, and looked forward to exploration of new opportunities to collaborate further,” the spokesperson added.

Gupta thanked the FBI for being a very significant partner in the training and capacity building of Indian police officers.

Both agencies agreed to explore increasing their interactions and collaborative initiatives on the training track.

“Director Wray’s visit signifies a step towards deepening the cooperation and shared commitment between the national agencies of US and India to combat terror in all its manifestations around the globe,” NIA said.

Culled from Hindustan Times