Pramesh S Jain
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted nation-wide searches in a case of online terror radicalisation aimed at establishing an Islamic state in India through violent jihad against the democratically elected government by promoting the ideology of ISIS and AQIS terrorist organisations.
A total of 20 locations was searched in a coordinated action by NIA teams in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,Karnataka,Maharashtra,Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal,Bihar,Rajasthan,Gujarat and the UT of Delhi,as part of the ongoing investigation in the case.
Today’s searches led to the seizure of several digital devices,which will be forensically examined for further clues into the radicalisation conspiracy.
Eleven accused and one juvenile have so far been arrested in the case, which NIA had taken over from Vijaywada police in May this year.
The Vijaywada (Andhra Pradesh) police had originally registered the case in March following a search at the residence of key accused Rehmatullah Sharif Mohammad that resulted in the recovery of incriminating materials related to the banned terrorist organisations AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent) and ISIS (Islamic State).
The locations searched today were chosen on the basis of detailed technical analysis of the digital devices seized earlier, along with connectivity analysis of the arrested accused and other investigation findings.
NIA,which is working to identify others involved in the plot to destabilise the country and establish ‘Caliphate’, has found that the arrested accused and their aides were engaged in indoctrination of vulnerable youth across the country through violent jihadi content and misinformation.
The accused were also in online contact with their foreign handlers to propagate the jihadi ideology and promote the anti-India conspiracy.
