Two months after arresting two men for their alleged ties to the banned terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a second FIR against them for their alleged affiliation with Al-Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), radicalising Muslim youths in India via “end-to-end encrypted social media platforms” and sending them to Afghanistan for terrorist training.
Mohammed Arif, a software engineer from Bengaluru, and Hamraz Worshid Shaikh, a resident of Thane, Maharashtra, were arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in February of this year in a case involving a plot by terrorist organisations based in India and abroad to radicalise the youth and provoke them to engage in acts of violence and terrorism.
An official from the NIA stated, “A case was initially registered at the Tilaknagar police station in Bengaluru on July 24, 2017 and re-registered by the NIA on August 8.”
On April 3, the NIA filed a new FIR under IPC Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and UAPA Sections 17, 18, 18-B, 38, 39, and 40.
“Upon examination of Arif and Hamraz, it was discovered that they are affiliated with the outlawed terrorist organisations Al-Qaeda and TTP for the purpose of instituting Sharia worldwide. As part of the conspiracy, they were using end-to-end encrypted social media platforms to radicalise and recruit gullible Muslim adolescents in India for the purpose of sending them to Afghanistan for terrorist training… In order to further the activities of Al-Qaeda and the TTP, they were also raising funds, according to the FIR.
