NIA files charge sheet against 5 accused in ISKP case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday filed a charge sheet against five accused in the NIA Special Court in New Delhi in connection with the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) case.

The accused have been charge-sheeted for their affiliation with the proscribed terrorist orgsation ISIS/ISKP and for allegedly conspiring to create disaffection against the Government of India, promoting enmity among different religious communities and for committing subversive activities, a statement from NIA said.

The accused have been identified as Jahanzaib Sami (36), Hina Bashir Beigh (39), Abdullah Basith (26), Sadiya Anwar Shaikh (20) and Nabeel Siddick Khatri (27).The agency has filed the charge sheet under Sections 120B, 124A, 153A and 201 of IPC and sections 13, 17, 18, 38, 39 and 40 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the accused persons.

In its charge sheet, the NIA further said that that this case was initially registered by Delhi Police Special Cell on March 8, after the arrest of Kashmiri couple Jahanzaib Sami W and his wife Hina Bashir Beigh from their rented accommodation in Okhla Vihar, Jamia Nagar in the national capital. The agency re-registered the case on March 20 and took up the investigation.

During the probe, the agency claimed to have found that Jahanzaib, a resident of Ferozpur in Punjab, got radicalised and inclined towards ISIS/ISKP by reading about it on the internet. He then established contact with ISIS handler Huzaifa-al-Bakist and latter's father-in-law Abu Usman-Al-Kashmiri (head of Indian affairs of ISKP) in 2017 on a secure messaging platform.

Huzaifa-al-Bakist further introduced him to Abdullah Basith, another ISIS operative, who is already in judicial custody at Tihar jail in connection with another NIA case (ISIS Abu Dhabi Module), the NIA added in its release.

The investigation further revealed that Hina Bashir also got radicalised since 2014-15 by reading ISIS-related content on the social media platform.

As per NIA, Jahanzaib, Hina Bashir, Abdullah Basith and Sadiya were conspiring to utilise the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests to instigate Muslims against the Government by coining seditious slogans and writing graffiti at public places and highlighting them on social media.

Accused Jahanzaib, Hina, Abdullah Basith and Nabeel Siddick also tried to make an improvised IED and were planning to carry out mass-killings in crowded places to further the activities of ISIS/ISKP in India, the statement added.

Another accused Abdur Rehman was also arrested from Bengaluru by the NIA on August 17, who was in contact with Jahanzaib as part of the conspiracy to promote the activities of ISIS/ISKP and had also visited ISIS medical camp in Syria in 2014.

The investigation into the activities of Abdur Rehman and other suspects, in this case, is continuing, NIA said.

( With inputs from ANI )