The High Court of Karnataka has granted bail to a member of the Al-Hind group and denied bail to another member, who allegedly has links with the banned Islamic State (IS) in a two-year-old case of carrying out activities of the group in Karnataka known as “IS Bengaluru module case.”
A Division Bench comprising Justice B. Veerappa and S. Rachaiah passed the order on the petitions filed by Saleem Khan (27), a resident of Rahamath Nagar, Kolar, and Mohammed Zaid (32), a resident of New Gurappanapalya, Bengaluru.
The court granted bail to Khan while observing that “merely attending meetings and becoming member of Al-Hind group, which is not a banned organisation as contemplated under the schedule of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and attending jihadi meetings, purchasing training materials and organising shelters for co-members is not an offence as contemplated under the provisions of section 2(k) or section 2(m) of UA(P) Act.”
The materials in the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) does not indicate Khan’s association with any organisations that are banned under the UA(P) Act, the court said.
However, in case of Zaid, the court said that chargesheet “clearly depicts his active participation in the offence as a member of terrorist gang and conspiracy with other accused persons for criminal act and that he is associated with prime accused for contacting unknown IS handler through dark web.”
The chargesheet also indicates that Zaid had taught dark web operations to a few other accused persons and prepared fake Aadhaar for Al-Hind group members, involved in furthering the activities of IS in India and assisted another accused in communicating with the IS handler through dark web, the court said while rejecting his plea for bail.
The court also noted that Zaid is an accused in another similar terror activity case registered by NIA, Delhi.
