India News | After Home Ministry's Nod, NIA to Probe Targeted Killing of Punjab VHP Leader

New Delhi, May 16 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency will probe the targeted killing of Punjab Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Vikas Bagga, a senior official said on Thursday.

The development comes following a directive from the Union home ministry in this regard, he said.

Also Read | 'Uddhav Thackeray Backstabbed BJP, People in Shiv Sena Believed They Were Wronged', Says Piyush Goyal.

"The NIA has taken over the investigation (by re-registering the Punjab Police's case) to probe the murder of Vikas Bagga," the official said.

Sources said the probe agency has been roped in to unravel the larger conspiracy behind Bagga's killing to spread terror in the region.

Also Read | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: 39% Candidates in Sixth Phase of General Polls Are Crorepatis, Average Assets Rs 6.81 Crore, Says ADR.

They said the involvement of banned terrorist outfits and their operatives based in India and abroad in the crime is also not being ruled out.

Bagga, who was also known as Vikas Prabhakar, was the president of the Nangal unit of the VHP.

He was shot dead by two unidentified motorcycle-borne men at his shop in Nangal town in Punjab's Rupnagar district on April 13.

The two assailants entered Bagga's confectionery shop located near the Rupnagar railway station and opened fire at him. They fled, local police had said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)