NIA files charge sheet against two hardcore ISIS members in Kolkata
Jul 04, 2023
New Delhi [India], July 4 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday filed a charge sheet against two hardcore ISIS members involved in promoting the proscribed organisation's terrorist activities.
The accused are identified as Md Saddam alias Mohammad Saddam alias Saddam Mallick alias Abdul Malliack and Abdul Rakib Qureshi alias Abdul Raqib Qureshi alias Qureshi. They have been chargesheeted under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.
The anti-terror agency filed the charge sheet before an NIA court in Kolkata.
The accused were arrested by the Kolkata Special Task Force (STF) on January 6 this year for hatching a conspiracy against the Government of India by collecting arms and ammunition as well as explosives, and recruiting Muslim youth for carrying out terrorist activities for ISIS in India and abroad, said the NIA in a statement.
STF Kolkata had initially registered a First Information Report and the NIA had taken over the case a month later, on February 6.
As per the NIA, a large quantity of incriminating material, used for propaganda and radicalisation on behalf of ISIS, was seized from the two accused who had been using this material to recruit and train impressionable Muslim youth into the ISIS fold.
One of the two chargesheeted accused Abdul Rakib Qureshi was also convicted earlier for life in a UA(P)A case for his acts of terror and association with the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), another proscribed organisation which is currently almost defunct.
Investigations further showed that the two men had knowingly associated themselves with ISIS with the intent to further its activities, said the NIA.
"Md Saddam entered into a criminal conspiracy with Abdul Rakib Qureshi to recruit people, target prominent personalities and also to send the recruits abroad for executing ISIS-led terror actions & activities. The duo used various encrypted social media platforms for communication, in order to hide their terror-related activities and evade detection by law enforcement agencies," the NIA added.
