The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday charge-sheeted five persons allegedly associated with the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), a proscribed Afghan terrorist organisation.
“The ISKP, a sister organisation of ISIS, is active in the Khorasan province of Afghanistan and is behind a meticulously planned conspiracy to promote terror and violence in the troubled nation,” said the agency.
Among those arraigned in the chargesheet are Ubaid Nasir Mir, Hanan Hayat Shawl, Mohammed Hazim Shah, Sumera Banu, and Zubair. They allegedly had plans to go to Afghanistan illegally via Iran from Porbandar, Gujarat, for training and to carry out terrorist acts there. However, they were arrested by Gujarat’s Anti-Terror Squad, which found that the five were actively involved with the ISKP.
“Investigations by the NIA had revealed that the arrested individuals were engaged in activities such as recruitment of Muslim youth to join the violent agenda of the banned terror outfit. Their actions were not limited to propagating the agenda and ideology of ISKP on social media, but they were actively engaged in motivating, radicalising and indoctrinating vulnerable Muslim youth in India with the extremist ideology of ISKP. They were also collecting funds for the banned terror organisation,” the agency said.
Two other accused in the case, based in Afghanistan and Iran, are currently absconding. The NIA believes that they were handlers of the arrested persons.
The agency had taken over the case on June 28, 2023, on the Ministry of Home Affairs directive.
