The Punjab government said that it had decided to hand over seven cases to the NIA keeping in mind the possible “national and international ramifications” of a conspiracy behind the targeted killings in the state.

It was decided to transfer the cases to the NIA under Section 6 of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act, 2008, as the modus operandi in all of these cases was the same, an official spokesman said.

It was also found that inter-state as well as international perpetrators, handlers, actors and a militancy angle were involved in the criminal conspiracy, to disturb the peace and communal harmony in the border state, by selectively targeting leaders of certain groups, he said.

The decision to transfer the cases was taken after a NIA team, led by the agency’s director, Y C Modi, held discussions with officials of the Punjab Police on Monday, the spokesman said, adding that it was felt that the central probe agency was better equipped to undertake further investigations in this regard.

They both agreed that the probe needed to be more broad- based as the handlers, conspirators and financers in the targeted killing cases operated from countries such as the UK, Canada and Italy, he said.

Following the decision, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directed the police to hand over all the materials related to the cases to the NIA.

The police had recently arrested five persons, including UK citizen Jagtar Singh Johal, in connection with the targeted killings of leaders of the RSS, Shiv Sena and other outfits in the state between January 2016 and October 2017, the spokesman said.

The chief minister has directed that complete support be extended to the NIA to uncover the full extent of the conspiracy to disturb Punjab’s peace and harmony.

The spokesman said the move was aimed at ensuring that the foreign-based networks conspiring against Punjab were dismantled and action was taken against the foreign handlers (both organisations and individuals) through cooperation with the Ministry of External Affairs, Interpol, Europol and foreign governments.

It was vital to crack down on such elements that were carrying out murder and mayhem, and reviving terrorism in Punjab, he said.

The decision, it was felt, would also help dispel false, slanderous and orchestrated social media campaigns launched by interested governments, organisations and elements to raise funds, and to deter the police and prosecuting agencies from doing their duty, the spokesman said.

The seven cases being handed over to the NIA include the April 2016 Khanna killing of Durga Das Gupta, the president of labour service wing, Shiv Sena, Punjab; the January 2017 killing of Amit Sharma, Zila Pracharak Hindu Takht in Ludhiana; the February 2017 killing of Dera Sacha Sauda followers Satpal Kumar and his son Ramesh Kumar in Khanna; and the July 2017 Ludhiana killing of Christian Pastor Sultan Masih.

Other cases to be handed over to NIA include January 2016 firing on a RSS Shakha at Kidwai Nagar and February 2016 firing on Amit Arora, Local Hindu Leader. The incidents took place in Ludhiana.

The RSS leader Ravinder Gosain killing case has already been handed over to the NIA. Gosain was killed in Ludhiana on October 17.

The government has proposed that the murder case of RSS leader Jagdish Gagneja, which is being probed by the CBI, be also transferred to the NIA. Gagneja was killed in Jalandhar in August 2016.