India’s National Investigation Agency carried out coordinated searches at 18 locations—nine in Punjab, seven in Haryana and two in Uttar Pradesh—on Thursday as part of a probe into a terror-funding and targeted-killing conspiracy aimed at reviving militancy in Punjab. The operation, conducted with state police forces, began before dawn in cities including Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Karnal and Yamunanagar. Investigators searched the homes of several suspects, among them YouTuber Sukhbir Singh in Budhlada, Punjab, and the residences of most-wanted men Kulbir Singh Sandhu and Johny in Haryana. In Karnal, officers questioned the family of Ashok Bhatia, whose son living in the United States is alleged to have transferred money to a suspected conspirator. Digital devices, documents and financial records were seized, according to officials briefed on the action. The case centres on Canada-based Babbar Khalsa operative Lakhbir Singh, known as Landa, and gangster Pavittar Batala, who are accused of organising targeted killings, extortion and arms smuggling. The NIA on 22 June filed a chargesheet against alleged firearms supplier Jatinder Singh, saying he sourced weapons from Madhya Pradesh for Landa’s network while coordinating with foreign-based handlers over encrypted channels. Separately on Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate searched the Dehradun residence of Provincial Civil Services officer Dinesh Pratap Singh in a long-running investigation into the 2017 NH-74 land-compensation scam, in which crores of rupees were allegedly siphoned off. The financial-crime agency also raided additional premises in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh linked to the case and to an unrelated probe involving a state drug-control official.