The National Investigation Agency said on Sunday it had filed chargesheets against 15 people in connection with the murder of two Shiv Sena leaders in Ludhiana city of Punjab, by suspected members of the Khalistan Liberation Force. Satpal Sharma was killed in February 2017 and Durga Prasad Gupta was shot dead in April 2016.

The investigation agency filed two chargesheets in a special court in Mohali on Saturday under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Arms Act, PTI reported.

The murders were part of a “trans-national conspiracy” hatched by the senior leadership of the Khalistan Liberation Force, an insurgent group that wants a separate Sikh homeland, the NIA claimed.

“Eight incidents of killings or attempted killings were executed as part of this conspiracy between January 2016 and October 2017 in Punjab,” the NIA said. “The objective of the conspiracy was to destabilise the law and order situation in Punjab and to revive the fledgling terrorism in the state.”

The conspiracy had its footprints in countries such as Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Italy and the United Arab Emirates, and funds were supplied through Italy, Australia and Britain, the NIA said. The alleged perpetrators of the killings, Hardeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh, used the funds to buy weapons, the agency said.

In November, the NIA had taken over the investigation into the murder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Ravinder Gosain in Ludhiana, and had accused Ramandeep Singh and Hardeep Singh of involvement.