New Delhi: The National Investigative Agency (NIA) conducted searches across India on Wednesday in a case related to online terror radicalization aimed at establishing an Islamic state in India. The agency said it was being planned through violent jihad against the democratically elected government by promoting the ideology of ISIS and AQIS terrorist organisations.
The NIA had taken over the case from Vijaywada police in May this year.
The searches were conducted in 20 locations nationwide in a “coordinated action by NIA teams” in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi, as part of the ongoing investigation in the case, according to the agency.
“Today’s searches led to the seizure of several digital devices, which will be forensically examined for further clues into the radicalisation conspiracy,” the agency said. Eleven accused and one juvenile have so far been arrested in the case so far.
The Andhra Pradesh police in Vijaywada 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 (AI-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent) and ISIS (Islamic State). The locations searched today were chosen based on detailed technical analysis of the digital devices seized earlier, along with connectivity analysis of the arrested accused and other investigation findings.
The NIA said that it is working to identify others involved in the “plot to destabilise the country and establish ‘Caliphate’”. It added that it 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.
The National Investigation Agency is the country’s central counterterrorism agency. It was established in 2009 after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
NIA conducts nationwide raids in case linked to online radicalization
The National Investigative Agency conducted searches across India on Wednesday in a case related to online terror radicalization aimed at establishing an Islamic state in India.
(File photo for representation.)