NIA books case against Qatar based Indian for conspiring to wage war against Syria

New Delhi, January 12: Busting modules of terror and uprooting plotting of terrorist activities, the National Investigation Agency has probed every nook and corner sparing no one. In a first, the NIA has booked a case against Indians for joining a terrorist outfit, apart from the Islamic State in Syria. The National Investigative Agency (NIA) has registered a case against Indian youth in Qatar who allegedly joined the terrorist organisations Jund al-Aqsa and Jabhat al-Nusrah.

 

The case was registered in Kerala under sections 120B and 125 of IPC besides sections 16 and 18 of UAPA regarding the activities of the youths who "conducted preparations or joined the terrorist organizations" Jund al-Aqsa and Jabhat al-Nusrah. Around eight men from Kerala and Karnataka are said to have joined Jabat al-Nusra, a former al-Qaeda outfit, in Syria.

The agency said it had credible information that from 2013 onwards, certain Kerala youths based in Qatar had hatched criminal conspiracy to wage war against Syria, an Asiatic power at peace with the Government of India". The probe agency said these youths prepared and travelled to Syria and joined terrorist organizations Jund al-Aqsa and Jabhat al-Nusrah with the intention to commit terrorist acts.

While probing a case registered initially by Kerala Police in October 2017, information about the suspects joining al-Nusra and its sub-unit Jund al-Aqsa emerged. Kannur has been a hotbed of terrorist recruiting, with 10 people joining IS last December too.

The accused are identified as Midhilaj, Rashid MV, Abdul Razak KV., Manaf Rahman and Hamsa UK. All hail from Kannur district, with Hamsa being the mastermind of the group. Hamsa revealed that he had information about some Indian men joining the Nusra front in Syria. Hamsa was trying to exit India to join IS in December 2016, when he was caught in Mangalore airport.