This case was registered at PS NIA, New Delhi on 09.12.2015 under section 125 of IPC and sections 18, 18B, 38 & 39 of UA(P) Act, 1967 and pertains to criminal conspiracy hatched by the ISIS to establish its base in India by recruiting Muslim youth for ISIS, a proscribed terrorist organization by using different social media platforms. During investigation, searches were conducted in various cities across the country and 19 accused were arrested. It was revealed that the accused persons had formed an organization by name Junood-ul-Khilafa-Fil-Hind (a group seeking to establish Caliphate in India and pledging allegiance to ISIS/ISIL) to recruit Muslim youth to work for ISIS and commit acts of terrorism in India at the behest of one Yusuf-Al-Hindi @ Shafi Armar @ Anjan Bhai, who was based in Syria and was purportedly the media chief of ISIS.
This case had a huge impact on the like-minded people who were likely to join ISIS . After the arrest of above ISIS terrorists, their activities were minimized and their other associates were identified and questioned to unravel their further plans. Several ISIS sympathisers, who had gone to join ISIS, were intercepted at various locations in the Middle East and were deported back to India. The investigation conducted by the agency stopped the facilitation of the ISIS members in India as well as abroad.
After completion of investigation, NIA had filed charge-sheets against 16 accused persons in 2016-2017.
On 16.10.2020, 15 accused have been convicted and sentenced with rigorous imprisonment (RI) and fine. They are:
(i). Nafees Khan, 10 years RI with fine Rs. 1,03,000/-
(ii). Mudabbir Mushtaq Sheikh, 7 years RI and fine Rs. 65,000/
(iii). Abu Anas, 7 years RI and fine Rs. 48,000/-
(iv). Mufti Abdus Sami, 7 years RI and fine Rs. 50,000/-, (v). Azhar Khan, 6 years RI and fine Rs. 58,000/-
(vi). Amzad khan, 6 years RI and fine Rs. 78,000/-
(vii) Mohd. Shariff Moinudeen, 5 years RI and fine Rs. 38,000/-
(viii) Asif Ali, 5 years RI and fine Rs. 38,000/-
(ix) Mohd. Hussain, 5 years RI and fine Rs. 38,000/-
(x) Syed Mujahid, 5 years RI and fine Rs. 38,000/-
(xi) Najmul Huda, 5 years RI and fine Rs. 38,000/-
(xii) Mohd. Obedullah, 5 years RI and fine Rs. 38,000/-
(xiii) Md. Aleem, 5 years RI and fine Rs. 38,000/-
(xiv) Md. Afzal, 5 years RI and fine Rs. 38,000/-
(xv) Sohail Ahmad 5 years RI and fine Rs. 38,000/-
This case was first of its kind in which an extensive terrorist conspiracy involving online radicalization was hatched on cyber space in the aftermath of declaration of Islamic Caliphate by Abu-Baqar-Al-Bagdadi in 2014; and Yusuf Al Hindi @ Shafi Armar, based in Syria had slowly radicalized a number of accused and eventually motivated them towards violent jihad as propagated by ISIS.
-Neeraj Singh