NIA files 4000-page chargesheet against six accused in ISIS module case

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency on Thursday filed a chargesheet against six people in a case pertaining to promoting terror activities in India at the behest of outlawed outfit ISIS.

The six accused, Tabish Siddiqui, Zulfikar Ali, Sharjeel Shaikh and Aakif Ateeque Nachan, Zubair Shaikh and Adnanali Sarkar, were held in July during multiple raids in Maharashtra by the NIA in the ISIS module case.

The 4000-page chargesheet, which was filed in the court of Special NIA Judge A K Lahoti, has 16 protected witnesses.

The NIA said all six are members of the proscribed ISIS outfit and had hatched a conspiracy to further terrorist activities of the organisation with the intention to strike fear and terror among the people and to threaten the security, secular ethos and culture of India as well as its democratic system of governance.

The accused were found in possession of incriminating material related to 'Hijrah' to Syria, along with propaganda magazines like 'Voice of Hind' and 'Voice of Khurasan' published by ISIS, the NIA said in a press note.

Further, the accused had been sharing DIY (Do It Yourself) kits with their contacts and were also found to be raising funds to finance their terror plans and designs as per NIA investigations, the press note said.

The material seized clearly exposed the strong and active links of the accused with ISIS and their efforts to motivate vulnerable youth to further the terror organisation's anti-India agenda, the NIA said.

The case was registered by NIA on June 28, 2023 against Tabish Siddiqui and others following information received by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding a conspiracy hatched by them to disturb the unity, integrity, security and sovereignty of the country, and to wage a war against the Government of India by promoting the terrorist activities of ISIS.

Further investigations in the case are continuing in accordance with the provisions of section 173(8) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).