Arrested for links with ISIS: Fresh NIA chargesheet says two accused had senior roles in tech firms
IN ITS latest chargesheet filed against six youths alleging that they are members of terrorist organisation Islamic State (ISIS), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has said that the accused are ‘technically sound’, with two of them in senior positions in technology companies, claiming that they underwent radicalisation and were provoking gullible Muslim youth. The agency has claimed that one of the accused found the email ID of ISIS online and contacted them in 2016.
On Thursday, the NIA filed a chargesheet against Tabish Siddiqui, Zulfikar Barodawala, Zubair Shaikh, Sharjeel Shaikh, Adnanali Sarkar and Aakif Nachan. The chargesheet states that Barodawala worked as a senior project manager in a multinational company with an annual package of Rs 31 lakh. Zubair, too, the chargesheet states, worked as a senior associate with a technology-based company and Sharjeel worked as a retainer in an IT firm.
The chargesheet claims that it was Siddiqui who came in contact with Barodawala first in 2015. Between 2015 and 2017-18, Siddiqui and Barodawala had several meetings and they later took Bayath (pledge of allegiance) towards the Khalifa of ISIS, it says.
The chargesheet claims that Siddiqui first found access to an email ID of ISIS through its magazine, used for propaganda and recruitment, and sent an email to it on July 31, 2016. The reply was received on February 25, 2017, which said ‘good job update your contact details number and address we will be in touch’, the chargesheet states. It alleges that Siddiqui took the pledge of allegiance (Bayath) towards the then Khalifa of ISIS. It also claimed that Siddiqui shared content on ISIS to contacts and groups through Telegram app and Facebook messenger. The agency claimed that Siddiqui was also in touch with ISIS handlers, including one ‘Formula One’ from February 2023 and had planned to travel to join ISIS. It also claimed that he prepared content and sent Urdu translations for publication in a magazine run by ISIS. It further claimed that he prepared content titled “Istishadi Operation”, claiming that it denotes a suicide operation and also shared a ‘Do It Yourself Kit’ on explosives. In 2018, Siddiqui visited Jammu & Kashmir for a week and sent an email to ISIS ‘updating the situation of Kashmir’, the NIA has said, adding that there were plans to establish the organisation in the region. The accused communicated through apps sending links to speeches and videos related to ISIS, the chargesheet said. In May-June 2022, several meetings were held in Padgha in Bhiwandi, ‘wherein they used to plan the recruitment of gullible Muslim youth’ for ISIS, it alleged.
In a previous chargesheet filed against seven others in November, the NIA had claimed that the accused used GoPro cameras, mountain bikes, drones in order to conduct recce of various places where they could carry out blasts or conduct IED explosion training.
Source » indianexpress.com
