ANational Investigation Agency (NIA) team will shortly leave for Kabul to probe the terror attack on a gurdwara in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul in March 2020 that left 27 people, including an Indian citizen, dead.

Keshwarnews quoting indiatoday reported, the Kabul Gurdwara attack, one of the deadliest attacks on the minority Sikh community in the strife-torn country on March 25.

A team of three-four members, led by a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank officer, will probe the case. This agency’s first international case following amendments to the NIA Act will allow it to investigate terrorist activities against Indians and Indian interests abroad.

There has been a significant delay on account of the government-imposed lockdown. The attack had taken place a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The NIA had registered the case on April 1. While the NIA has been doing its legwork, including getting a DNA match and speaking to nearly a dozen Sikh victims who were brought back to India in July, the real groundwork for the probe team will begin once it arrives in Kabul. With the government announcing ‘Air Bubble’ arrangements with several countries including Afghanistan, the team will leave soon as the nod to travel abroad for probing the case has come from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Earlier, another team of NIA had visited Dubai for probing the Kerala gold smuggling case. Multiple agencies, including the NIA, the Customs and the Enforcement Directorate have been probing the case of smuggling of gold worth over Rs 100 crore through diplomatic baggage addressed to the UAE consulate at Thiruvananthapuram since November last year.