BENGALURU: A special court for the National Investigation Agency in Bengaluru recently rejected the pleas of two terror case accused that their names be dropped from the chargesheet. Their argument was that their alleged IS-related activities took place in 2013 whereas the organisation was banned and brought under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act only in 2015.
Irfan Nasir alias Irfi, 33, of Fraser Town and Ahmed Adbul Cadre alias Kaka, 39, of New Gurappanapalya, were arrested by NIA in October 2021 for raising funds, radicalising and recruiting Muslim youths of a Quran Circle group and illegally sending six of them to Syria to join IS during 2013-14. Two more accused from Bengaluru — Abdur Rahman, an ophthalmologist and Muhammed Taquir Mahmood, a dentist — were arrested in the same case later and are yet to be chargesheeted.
NIA had registered FIR against the suspects in September 2020, under different IPC sections including 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and UAPA. In early 2021, NIA chargesheeted Irfan Nasir and Ahmed Abdul Cadre. “They petitioned before the special court contending that their names should be dropped from the chargesheets on various grounds,” said public prosecutor P Prasanna Kumar.
Kumar argued that IS had different names earlier and came into existence in late 1990s. “The names varied from Al Qaeda to Al Nusra and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Also, the purpose of UAPA Act is to act against terror-related activities at international level,” Kumar said.
The court refused to accept the argument of the accused, saying the organisation was involved in terrorist activities much prior to the said date, and under sections of UAPA, not only any terrorist organisation, but also terrorist activities are punishable.
