New Delhi:

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted extensive searches at multiple locations across the country in connection with the activities promoted by some Bangladeshi nationals as part of terror group Al-Qaida’s conspiracy to destabilise India, according to an official statement.

The crackdown at nine locations, linked with individuals suspected of supporting and funding the activities of the proscribed terrorist organisation Al-Qaida, started early in the morning in Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, Tripura and Assam, it said.

The searches led to the recovery of incriminating documents showing detailed banking transactions, digital devices including mobile phones, and other evidence related to terror funding activities, the statement issued by the NIA said.

As per NIA investigations, the suspects whose premises were raided are sympathisers of a Bangladesh-based Al-Qaida network.

The searches were part of NIA’s ongoing investigations into a 2023 case pertaining to a conspiracy orchestrated by Bangladesh-based Al-Qaida operatives in collaboration with the arrested individuals, it said.

The conspiracy was aimed at propagating Al-Qaida’s terrorist activities and radicalising gullible youths in India, the probe agency said.

In November last year, NIA had filed a charge sheet against five accused, including four Bangladeshi nationals — Mohd Sojibmiyan, Munna Khalid Ansari alias Munna Khan, Azarul Islam alias Jahangir or Aakash Khan, Abdul Latif alias Mominul Ansari, it added.

The fifth accused, Farid, is an Indian national.

NIA investigations into their antecedents had revealed that the accused had procured forged documents to carry out their activities covertly.

They were actively involved in radicalising and motivating vulnerable Muslim youth in India, spreading Al-Qaida’s violent ideology, collecting funds, and transferring these funds to Al-Qaida, the statement said.

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New Delhi:

Lawrence Bishnoi’s younger brother Anmol has shot into the spotlight after he was added to the most-wanted list of the National Investigation Agency and a Rs 10 lakh reward was announced for his arrest. His name has cropped up in several cases, including the murder of Punjabi singer and politician Sidhu Moosewala in 2022, the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s residence in Bandra in April and the killing of politician Baba Siddique earlier this month. 

Chargesheets were filed against Anmol Bishnoi, who is from Fazilka in Punjab, in two cases registered by the NIA in 2022 and he fled India on a fake passport last year. He is believed to be in Canada.  

Anmol has at least 18 cases against him and allegedly provided weapons and logistical support to the men who gunned down Sidhu Moosewala near his village Moosa in Punjab’s Mansa district on June 29, 2022. Lawrence Bishnoi gang member Goldy Brar had taken responsibility for the killing and later claimed that it was carried out to avenge the murder of Vicky Muddukhera, a Youth Akali Dal leader. 

The responsibility for the firing outside Salman Khan’s residence, Galaxy Apartments in Bandra, was claimed by Anmol Bishnoi. A chargesheet filed in the case said that before the firing on April 14, Bishnoi delivered a nine-minute speech to motivate the shooters, Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, telling them that they were on course to create history. 

“Lord Ram has blessed us. We will handle him (Salman Khan). There is no problem, as long as it is in my control, I don’t have any problem,” he told the shooters. 

“Now it is do or die, either life or death. It is written by God. Either the bullets will be fired in the morning or we will sit at home. It is in your hands what to do and what not to do..,  If you work, then history will be created. You will fill the newspapers,” he said. 

The chargesheet had said the plan had been conceived in August last year and finetuned until it was finally carried out in April.

In July, a court in Mumbai had issued a non-bailable warrant against Anmol Bishnoi. 

Former Maharashtra minister and three-time MLA Baba Siddique was shot dead on Dussehra on October 12 outside the office of his son and MLA Zeeshan Siddique. Officials have said Anmol Bishnoi was in touch with the shooters in this case as well.

Two of the shooters, Gurmail Baljit Singh from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh were arrested soon after the killing while Shiv Kumar Gautam, who is also from Uttar Pradesh, is on the run.

Jammu:

National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday launched searches at multiple places in Rajouri and Reasi districts as part of its investigation into the deadly terror attack in June on a bus carrying pilgrims who were returning from Shiv Khori temple, officials said.

Nine persons, including seven pilgrims from outside Jammu and Kashmir, were killed and 41 injured when terrorists opened fire at the bus on June 9. The bus, on its way from the Shiv Khori temple to Katra, veered off the road following a barrage of gunfire and fell into a deep gorge near Teryath village of Pouni area in Reasi.

On June 17, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) handed over the terror attack case to the NIA.

One person, Hakam Khan of Rajouri, who allegedly provided food, shelter and logistics to the terrorists besides helping them recce the area before the attack, has been arrested in connection with the case so far.

Officials said multiple NIA teams are carrying out searches in Rajouri and Reasi districts in connection with the Shiv Khori terror attack case since this morning.

The searches are underway and further details are awaited, they said.

NIA had also conducted searches at five locations linked to hybrid terrorists and their overground workers in Rajouri on June 30. 

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The men first planned an attack on the BJP office in Bengaluru on the day of grand Ram Mandir event in Ayodhya, said anti-terror agency anti-terror agency NIA, adding that the attackers having failed in their first attempt then carried out an attack on the city’s popular Rameshwaram Cafe.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday charge sheeted four accused in the Bengaluru cafe blast case.

The charge sheeted accused — Mussavir Hussain Shazib, Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taaha, Maaz Muneer Ahmed and Muzammil Shareef — are in judicial custody.

Accused Taaha and Shazib were funded by their handler through crypto currencies, said the NIA in a statement.

The funds, said the agency, were used by the accused to perpetrate various acts of violence in Bengaluru.

“These included a failed IED attack at the State BJP Office, Malleshwaram, Bengaluru, on the day of Pran Pratishtha ceremony at Ayodhya on January 22, after which the two key accused had planned the Rameshwaram Cafe blast,” the statement said.

The NIA said that two men, hailing from Shivamogga District of Karnataka, were ISIS radicals and had earlier conspired to do Hijrah to ISIS territories in Syria. They were actively involved in radicalising the young to the ISIS ideology, said the agency.

Taaha and Shazib had fraudulently obtained Indian SIM cards and Indian bank accounts, and also used various Indian and Bangladeshi identity documents downloaded from the Dark Web, said the agency.

Nine people were injured in the bomb blast at Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe.

Forty two days after the cafe explosion, the NIA arrested four men from their hideout in West Bengal.

New Delhi:

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday arrested a key accused involved in the transnational human trafficking case run by a Sri Lankan having previous links with the LTTE terror outfit, according to an official statement.

The accused Seeni Aabulkhan was nabbed from Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu, it said.

Investigations found that he, along with his associates, was involved in confining the trafficked victims in a boat in high sea before sending them to Mangalore (or Mangaluru) by train, car and bikes for further confinement, said the statement issued by the NIA.

“Three years after he had absconded, the NIA on Saturday arrested a key accused in the Sri Lankan human trafficking case run by a Sri Lankan with links with LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) terror organisation,” it said.

The NIA took over the case, which was originally registered by the Mangaluru City Police, after searches led to the rescue of 13 Sri Lankan nationals from the traffickers earlier in June 2021.

The NIA investigations revealed one Sri Lankan, identified as Eesan and having previous links with the terror outfit LTTE, to be the kingpin of the racket.

“He had colluded with the accused to illegally bring 38 Sri Lankan nationals from Sri Lanka to various locations within Tamil Nadu after luring them with false promises,” the probe agency said.

Besides the promise of helping them obtain legitimate documentation for migration to Canada, they were lured with employment opportunities, as per the NIA investigations.

Following detailed investigations, the NIA had charge-sheeted 10 accused, including three absconders, between October 2021 and January 2024. Further investigations are continuing to apprehend the remaining absconders, it added.

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Mumbai:

The 2008 Malegaon blast that killed six people and left over 100 injured was carried out with the intention to create communal rift and endanger internal security of the state, the prosecution said while making its final arguments in the case.

The final arguments in the case, in which seven accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, are facing trial, began on Thursday, almost 16 years after the incident.

On September 29, 2008, a bomb explosion at 9:35 pm opposite Shakil Goods Transport Company situated between Anjuman Chowk and Bhiku Chowk in Malegaon killed six persons and injured 101.

As per the prosecution, the blast was triggered by an improvised explosive device fitted to a motorcycle (allegedly belonging to former Bhopal MP Pragya Thakur).

The trial against one accused, Sameer Kulkarni, has been stayed by the Supreme Court. The other accused in the case, apart from Thakur and Purohit, are Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi and Sudhakar Chaturvedi. All are facing trial under the provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“It was the holy month of Ramzan and the Navratri Utsav was to commence. The blasts were caused by the conspirators with an intention to terrorise people, causing loss of life and property. It was carried out with an intention to disrupt supplies and services essential to the community to create communal rift, and to endanger internal security of the state,” the National Investigation Agency (NIA), represented by special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal and Anushree Rasal, submitted.

The case was initially probed by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) before being handed over to the NIA, a central agency.

In the final argument, the prosecution cited the ATS probe, which claimed accused Purohit had brought RDX with him from Kashmir after completing his posting there and had kept it in his house.

The ATS probe revealed traces of RDX in the Nashik house of accused Sudhakar Chaturvedi, where the bomb was assembled, and Thakur provided her motorcycle for causing the bomb blast with full knowledge, the NIA’s final argument mentioned.

The NIA, after taking over the probe, filed a chargesheet in 2016, in which it gave a clean chit to Thakur and three other accused- Shyam Sahu, Praveen Takalki and Shivnarayan Kalsangra saying it had found no evidence against them and had sought that they be discharged from the case.

The NIA court, however, absolved only Sahu, Kalsangra and Takalki and ruled that Thakur would have to face trial.

At the time, the special court had dropped charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused.

The special court had, on October 30, 2018, framed charges against seven accused under UAPA and IPC.

The accused are facing trial under sections 16 (committing terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the UAPA and under IPC sections 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153 (a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups).

After the framing of charges, the trial in the case began in 2018 with the examination of the first witness. The recording of testimonies of prosecution witnesses was completed in September last year.

The final arguments will continue on Friday. 

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New Delhi:

The National Investigation Agency arrested two people after extensive searches at 10 locations in five districts of Tamil Nadu in the Hizb-ut-Tahrir case.

The arrested men are members of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, an international pan-Islamist and fundamentalist group which is working to re-establish Islamic caliphate and enforce the constitution written by Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s founder Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani.

The accused are Abdul Rehman alias Abdul Rahman, and Mujibur Rehman alias Mujibur Rahman Altham Sahib, both from Thanjavur district.

NIA investigations said the two were involved in conducting secret classes to radicalise young people in extremist ideologies, and portraying as anti-Islamic the Indian Constitution, law and judiciary.

The trainees were taught that India was now Darul Kufr (Land of Non-believers) and it was their duty to transform it into Darul Islam by waging a violent jihad, the NIA said in a statement.

The NIA seized mobile phones, laptop, SIM and memory cards and incriminating documents, including books and printouts containing ideology of the Hizb-ut-Tahrir, Khilafa, Islamic State, and proposed Khilafa government and its funding structures.

New Delhi:

 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested a wanted accused involved in the trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas into India through the northeastern borders.

Jalil Miah, a resident of Tripura, has been arrested by the NIA team, an official statement said.

The NIA had in February declared a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to the arrest of Jalil, who was absconding in the case, in addition to nine others.

As per the NIA investigations, a large number of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas are being trafficked to India every month through the porous stretches of the Indo-Bangladesh border.

They are further transported to different parts of the country provided fake documents and forced into labour, according to the statement issued by the probe agency.

“In yet another success in its fight against human traffickers operating across the country, the NIA on Tuesday arrested a key conspirator in a case relating to trafficking of Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingyas through the north-eastern borders,” it said.

Thirty-three persons were arrested earlier in the case, which the NIA had taken over from the Assam Special Task Force (STF) that had originally registered an FIR on March 22, 2023, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Passport Act 1967.

The NIA has so far chargesheeted 24 accused.

Investigations have revealed that Jalil was one of the main conspirators in the human trafficking racket and a close associate of chargesheeted accused Jiban Rudra Pal alias Jibon alias Suman.

He was also closely associated with two other absconders, Juj Miah and Shanto, all hailing from Tripura, the NIA said.

Though Jalil had managed to escape during the initial operation on November 8, 2023, in which 29 accused were arrested, the NIA said, adding electronic devices and other incriminating documents seized from his residence had pointed to his complicity.

Pan India searches conducted by the NIA in November 2023 had led to the seizure of a whole lot of incriminating data, including digital devices, along with foreign currency (Bangladeshi Taka and US Dollar), Aadhaar cards, PAN cards etc.

A subsequent crackdown on December 29 last year had led to the arrest of another four accused in the case, exposing a massive network of human traffickers, the NIA said.

“The manhunt for tracking the other absconders is continuing and investigations are in progress to connect the missing links in the elaborate racket,” it said.

In a related development, the NIA had on Monday carried out a coordinated operation with the state police forces and central intelligence agencies across all the locations in connection with its probe in an international human trafficking and cyber fraud racket.

Five accused were arrested by the state police forces during these searches.

The youths were being forced to work in fake call centres at Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Laos and Cambodia, among other places, as part of the racket, controlled and operated mainly by foreign nationals.

They were also coerced into undertaking illegal activities online such as credit card fraud, investments in cryptocurrency using fake applications, honey trapping, etc. by the accused persons and their other members of the human trafficking syndicate.

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New Delhi:

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday chargesheeted Thaha Naseer, another accused in the 2022 ISIS-inspired Coimbatore car bomb blast case, an official statement said.

Naseer and his associates had conspired to wage war against the government of India and also to kill Indians in order to destabilise the country and create communal disharmony, it said.

Naseer is the 14th accused to be chargesheeted in the case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

“NIA on Friday filed its third supplementary chargesheet in the case relating to an explosion in front of the heritage Arulmigu Kottai Sangameshwarar Thirukovil Temple at Eswaran Kovil Street in Ukkadam, Coimbatore,” said the statement issued by the probe agency.

The blast was triggered on October 23, 2022 by a Vehicle-Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED), driven by accused Jamesha Mubeen, who was killed in the blast.

The explosion was aimed at avenging the alleged incarceration of Mohammed Azaruddin in prison, the NIA said.

Azaruddin was arrested in 2019 for propagating the ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) ideology and had abetted his associates and hatched the conspiracy to target Kafirs (non-believers of Islam) while inside the prison, it added.

The NIA investigations have revealed that Naseer was a close associate of Jamesha Mubeen and Umar Faaruq, the Amir or leader of the terror attack.

Umar Faaruq had recruited like-minded individuals, including the deceased accused Jamesha Mubeen, along with Mohammed Thoufeek and Naseer, the statement said.

He had gathered the recruits in a secluded region, Jalakumadavu alias Jothimadavu, in the core forest zone of Sathyamangalam Reserve Forest, Erode district, and planted an ISIS flag in the region and declared it as their ilaka/province, it added.

The recruits were provided jungle training by Umar, who had also assigned roles to the accused persons for carrying out the blast, the NIA said.

As per the NIA investigations, Mohammed Thoufeek and Naseer had visited the house of Jamesha Mubeen a week before the blast and had planned to use the explosives to carry out a series of terror attacks.

“The larger aim of the conspiracy was to wage war against the government of India by targeting its various branches, i.e., general administration, police, judiciary, etc. and also to target and kill Indians in order to destabilise the country and create communal disharmony,” it said.

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New Delhi:

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted searches at nine locations in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, in a case linked to terror activities.

The ongoing raids, initiated early Monday, are being conducted in collaboration with security forces at various sites associated with individuals linked to terrorism as part of a case registered by the agency in 2022.

Acting on specific information received regarding certain suspects residing in Srinagar, the anti-terror agency launched the searches.

The search operation was conducted almost a month after the NIA chargesheeted two accused in the Kokernag (Jammu and Kashmir) encounter case.

The suspects in the case are linked to The Resistant Front (TRF), an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), sources said.

Both LeT and TRF are proscribed organisations and have been involved in the continuous instigation and motivation of Kashmiri youth to join the terror outfits in the name of ‘Jihad’.

The two outfits are operating on social media platforms like Twitter, Telegram and Youtube channels to promote their cause and lure unemployed youth to carry out terror activities.

LeT is the largest terrorist group formed in the early 1990s and is actively engaged in reviving the network in the Anantnag area.

It is working through various offshoots in the Jammu and Kashmir region.

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