NIA slaps terror charges on top Hizb-ut-Tahrir leader

New Delhi: The NIA has charged a top Hizb-ut-Tahrir leader with promoting the proscribed terror group's "violent ideology and inciting youth" to carry out its vicious anti-India agenda.

The anti-terror agency has filed its chargesheet against Faizul Hussain under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) before the NIA Special Court in Poonamallee, Chennai (Tamil Nadu).

Hussain is the seventh accused to be charged in the case, according to an official statement.

Faizul Hussain, the "nakib/amir (head)" of Hizb-ut-Tahrir in Tamil Nadu, was arrested on October 8, 2024, for allegedly radicalising Muslim youngsters and "propagating" the group's violent agenda to establish an Islamic Caliphate in India.

According to National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigations, Hussain and his associates used to conduct covert Hizb-ut-Tahrir meetings in the guise of "Modern Essential Education Trust (MEET) Hall" discussions at a rented accommodation in Jani Jhan Khan Road, Royapettah, Chennai.

The accused was using the premises to propagate Hizb-ut-Tahrir's extremist beliefs through social media handles.

He was allegedly disseminating anti-national content to spread disaffection and incite communal discord by promoting secessionist ideology, according to the investigations of the NIA, which took over the case from the state police in July 2024.

Operating from Chennai, Hussain allegedly advocated Kashmir's secession from India, urging military intervention (Nushra) by the Pakistan Army to "liberate India-occupied Kashmir." "His actions were aimed at overthrowing India's constitutional democracy and enforcing the draft Islamic constitution of Hizb-ut-Tahrir, written by its founder Sheikh Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani," according to the NIA's findings.