NEW DELHI, Nov 11: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge-sheet at the special NIA court in Pune against seven suspected ISIS terrorists for allegedly planning attacks across the country.
The charge-sheet said investigations had revealed that the accused raised funds to promote the activities of ISIS on the directions of their handlers. They wanted to engineer violence and terror in the country, NIA sources said.
All the accused were educated and technically sound, the charge-sheet stated, adding that they held several meetings in Maharashtra’s Pune and made plans to recruit more members through WhatsApp groups. They used code words such as vinegar or sirka for sulphuric acid, rosewater for acetone and sherbat for hydrogen peroxide to buy chemicals for IEDs.
“The investigation has revealed a complex network of individuals committed to propagating the extremist ideology of ISIS within India,” officials said. The probe agency has also seized a set of documents titled – “Revenge on Kafirs”, that details their strategy to further ISIS activities in India. “They wanted to take revenge on alleged atrocities on Muslims by Kafirs (non-Muslims),” officials said.
The accused travelled to various states, including – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Telangana and Kerala to identify potential targets to carry out the blasts, officials said. The NIA has also alleged that the accused were in touch with foreign handlers who were updated about the progress in their plans.
(Manas Dasgupta)