Besides IS, Musa was also closely associated with Jamaat-ul- Mujahideen Bangladesh. This is for the first time that any IS terrorist was handed punishment by a court in West Bengal.
To recall, on July 5, 2022, the sleuths of Criminal Investigation Department (CID of West Bengal police arrested Musa from Burdwan station in East Burdwan district in West Bengal. Later, he was sent to the custody of the NIA.
Musa is a resident of Lavpur in Birbhum district of West Bengal. When he was imprisoned, Musa had hit the headlines a number of times for attacking the jail wardens and prison guards.
In December 2017, he attacked a prison officer, Gobindo Chandra Dey with a sharp object, targetting his neck.
He had even once thrown shoes towards a judge within the courtroom.
Even the sleuths from the American security agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) came to Kolkata to question him.
Musa was accused by NIA of plotting an attack at Mother House in Central Kolkata to kill the foreign visitors there to pay homage to Nobel laureate, Mother Teresa.
According to the NIA, Musa was mainly responsible for making IS recruits from West Bengal.
The arrested accused were identified as Arif Abubakar Shaikh and Shabbir Abubakar Shaikh.
The NIA official said that the two were running the syndicate of the D-Company from the western suburbs of Mumbai and were involved in illegal activities and terror funding.
Both will be produced before the special NIA court in Mumbai, where the agency will seek their custodial remand.
The Interpol had issued a Red Corner Notice against Chhota Shakeel, who operates an international criminal syndicate from Pakistan. He is involved in extortion, narcotics smuggling and terrorist activities.
The NIA has summoned two dozen persons to join the ongoing probe or face arrests.
An NIA official related to the probe said that the agency sleuths along with the CRPF are carrying out searches at multiple locations in several districts.
The official, however, remained tight-lipped on sharing the details of the case.
An agency source said that the anti-terror probe agency is carrying out the searches at the premises linked to senior members of the banned terror outfit Jamaat-e-Islami.
The source said that the searches are underway in at least 40 locations.
The source said that searches are being carried out in Doda, Budgam, Kishtwar, Ramban, Anantnag, Ganderbal, Shopian, Rajouri and other districts of the union territory.
The source said that searches are being held at the premises of Gul Mohd War, a resident of Manigam Ganderbal, who is the district head of JEI; Abdul Hamid Bhat, a resident of Gamchipora Batweena; Zahoor Ahmad Reshi, JEI member and former teacher now running a shop at Safapora; and the premises of Mehrajdin Reshi in Safapora.
Reshi is a former terrorist and now runs a shop.
In recent days, the NIA has carried out searches at different locations in two separate cases and also arrested a few people.
Interested and eligible candidates may apply for the position on or before June 4, 2018.
Job Location: Across India
Educational Qualification
Candidates applying need to have a Graduate degree from any recognized board or university.
Other Qualifications
Staff Selection Commission will hold the Combined Graduate Level Examination, 2018 for filling up various Sub Inspector posts in National Investigation Agency
Physical Standards
Physical standards required for the post is:
Age Limit
Minimum: 20 years
Maximum: 30 years
Salary
Once appointed, one will get Rs 9,300 - Rs. 34,800/- Per Month
Application Fee
Cabdidates will have to shell out Rs 100 as application fee.
Important to Note
(i) The Examination will comprise a Computer Based Examination for Tier-I and Tier-II (Paper-I, Paper-II, Paper-III and paper-IV), written descriptive examination for Tier-III and CPT/DEST/Document verification for Tier-IV.
(ii) Candidates seeking reservation benefits available for SC/ST/OBC/PH/EXS must ensure that they are entitled to such reservation as per eligibility prescribed in the Notice .They should also be in possession of the certificates in the prescribed format in support of their claim.
(iii) Candidates with physical disability of 40% and more only would be considered as PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED (PH) and entitled to reservation for PH. Central Government civilian employees claiming age relaxation should produce a certificate in the prescribed format from their office at the time of document verification in respect of the length of continuous service which should be for not less than three years during the period immediately preceding the closing date for receipt of application. They should remain Central Government civilian employees till the time of appointment in the event of their selection.
(iv) Only one online application is allowed to be submitted by a candidate for Combined Graduate Level Examination-2018. Therefore, the candidates are advised to exercise due diligence at the time of filling their application forms.
Besides, at the time of appearing in examination the candidates will be required to submit an undertaking that he / she has submitted only one application.
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A copy of the notice served by the NIA, which is in possession of OTV, asked Khan to depose by 11 am on December 4.
Yesterday the NIA detained Khan, a resident of Samantarpur slum, and later handed him over to his family members after a marathon interrogation.
The agency’s six-member team had raided Khan’s house and found some suspicious documents during the search.
Later, the officials had taken Hussein to an unknown place for questioning.
Sources said Hussein had been staying in the house in Samantarpur slum in Kisannagar of Cuttack on rent for the past four years prior to which he was in Saudi Arabia for over 15 years.
The NIA had raided the house of Hussein on the basis of information obtained during the interrogation of a suspected terrorist, who was recently arrested in New Delhi, the sources added.
https://youtu.be/D2Phahgj14E
As per sources, the NIA has handed over the youth to his family after interrogation.
Cuttack Rural SP Madhav Sahu said the youth could be further questioned if necessary.
A six-member team of the NIA raided the house where Akhtar has been staying and quizzed him for more than an hour. During the raid, the officials seized some suspicious documents from his house. Kisannagar police was also present during the search operation. Later, the officials took Hussein to an unknown place for questioning.
According to sources, Hussein was staying in the house on rent for the past four years prior to which he was in Saudi Arabia for over 15 years. However, locals said they have not witnessed any suspicious activities of Hussein in the last four years.
On the other hand, Hussein reportedly runs a business in Kolkata though his family members have refuted it, informed sources.
Sources said the NIA raided the house of Hussein on the basis of information obtained during the interrogation of a suspected terrorist, who was recently arrested in New Delhi.
Earlier in December, 2015, a joint team of the Delhi and Odisha police had arrested Maulana Abdul Rehman from his house at Paschima Kachha village under Jagatpur police limits in Cuttack for his alleged links with terror outfit al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
Huda is believed to be the mastermind behind a failed attempt to detonate an improvised explosive device on the Ghorasahan track in East Champaran district of Bihar, the Indore-Patna Express train accident in Kanpur on November 20, 2016 and the derailment of Hirakhand Express in Koneru in Andhra Pradesh on January 21.
Meanwhile, the NIA has registered a case against Maoists holding them responsible for the Hirakhand Express mishap.
Sources said the NIA team, led by IG, Mukesh Singh, will stay in Rayagada for about 10 days.
The team will probe into four aspects—whether the speed of the train was more than the prescribed speed limit, whether the railway authorities had set a dummy train on this track before allowing the Hirakhand Express to pass through this route and whether there was any crack on the track and if yes, then had the station master Kuneru railway station any information about this.
Apart from this, the team will also examine the condition of the track, the sources added.
Prior to the visit of this NIA team, a five-member NIA team had visited the accident site near Kuneru railway station a day after the mishap that took place at 11.15 PM when the nine bogies and the engine of Hirakhand Express derailed near Kuneru railway station in which 41 passengers were killed and over 50 passengers were injured.
P.P. Yoosaf, who had since been absconding, was arrested on Friday from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here after he arrived from Saudi Arabia, an NIA spokesperson told IANS.
He was produced later in the day before an NIA Special Court in the national capital to obtain a transit remand to take him to Kochi for his production before the Special Court in Ernakulam.
According tothe NIA official, Yoosaf, along with Ashar, who was arrested on January 23, had assisted T. Naseer in preparing the IEDs and had planted them at bus stands in Kozhikode City.
The twin blasts near the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and Mofussil bus stands had rocked Kozhikode on March 3, 2006, and left two persons injured and a few properties damaged.
The NIA had taken over the case from the Kerala Police in 2009 and filed the chargesheet against eight accused in August 2010 under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Arms Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The NIA official said thier probe revealed that besides Yoosaf and Ashar, were involved in the conspiracy hatched by prime accused T. Naseer and others to carry out the IED blasts after bail was denied to the accused involved in the Marad communal riots of 2003 in Kozhikode district.
Ashar and Yoosaf had assisted Naseer in preparing the Improvised Explosive Devices and planting them.
The court passed the orders on petitions filed by leaders of YSR Congress, seeking a probe by a central agency. They alleged that the state government was not investigating the case properly.
Sudhakar Reddy, lawyer of one of the petitioners, told reporters that the court agreed with the contention that a probe by a central agency could bring out the truth.
The High Court on December 22 gave two weeks time to the Andhra Pradesh government and the Centre to act according to Section 6 of the NIA Act.
The Centre took the decision to hand over the case to NIA on December 31. The investigating agency on January 1 registered a case. This was revealed on Friday.
The First Information Report (FIR) was registered on a complaint by an officer of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
The NIA registered an attempt to murder case against Janipalli Srinivas, who was arrested immediately after he attacked the leader of opposition.
Jagan, as the YSRCP leader is popularly knows, was injured when Srinivas, a worker at the airport canteen, attacked him with a cockfight knife as Jagan was waiting to board a flight to Hyderbad.
Jagan, who sustained a bleeding cut on his left upper arm, continued his journey and got admitted in a hospital in Hyderabad.
After the attack, leaders of ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had termed it as a ploy of YSRCP to gain public sympathy.
Jagan had refused to record his statement before Andhra Pradesh Police saying he had no trust in agencies controlled by the state government.
Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Laddha had revealed on Wednesday that the accused had planned the attack on October 18 but he could not execute the plan as the opposition leader had left for Hyderabad a day earlier.
A lawyer for one of the accused told reporters outside the Nampally criminal court complex that the court held that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges.
Hindu right-wing group Abhinav Bharat members Nabakumar Sarkar alias Swamy Aseemanand, Devender Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai and Rajender Chowdhary, who were charged by the NIA, were all acquitted.
The explosion ripped through the mosque on May 18, 2007. Two live IEDs were also recovered by police and defused. Later, five more people were killed in subsequent police firing on a crowd outside the mosque.
There were a total of eight accused in the case. One, Sunil Joshi, a RSS pracharak, was murdered during the course of investigation. Two other accused, Sandeep V. Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, both RSS activists, still elude the investigators.
Monday's judgement was about five accused who were chargesheeted by NIA.
A total of three chargesheets were filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the NIA in the sensational case that took many twists and turns.
The city police, which initially took up investigation, blamed Harkatul Jihad Islami and rounded up about 100 Muslim youths. All those arrested and jailed were acquitted in 2008 and the subsequent investigations by the CBI in 2010 revealed that the blast was the handiwork of Hindu rightwing group Abhinav Bharat. The case was handed over to NIA on April 4, 2011.
The fact-finding committee of the National Minorities Commission found that the innocent youth were arrested on charges of terrorism and police kept them in illegal confinement and tortured them.
In 2012, the government of then united Andhra Pradesh paid a compensation of Rs.3 lakh each to 26 people who were acquitted and Rs 20,000 each to 50 people others were let off the police after questioning.
According to the chargesheet, the accused were "angered by terrorist attacks committed on Hindus and their temples" and conspired to "avenge" such acts with attacks on Muslim places of worship and places densely populated by Muslims.
The chargesheet also mentioned that Aseemanand made a confessional statement before a metropolitan magistrate in Delhi.
He had allegedly disclosed the conspiracy behind the bomb blasts in different places, including Makkah Masjid. Aseemanand allegedly retracted the statement later.
Aseemanand was first arrested by the CBI in 2010 but was granted conditional bail in 2017 in the case. He was earlier acquitted in Ajmer Dargah blast case and also got bail in the Samjhauta Express blast case of 2014.
An NIA official told IANS: "The agency has arrested Malook who is accused of providing weapons to the assailants who killed Gosain." The arrest was made during a joint operation by the NIA and the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force on Wednesday.
On Sunday, a team of NIA and Uttar Pradesh Police was attacked by a mob when it raided Nahali village in Ghaziabad district in pursuit of the accused.
Constable Tahzib Khan suffered a leg injury when the mob stoned the raiding team and even fired at them. The mob also damaged an official vehicle.
The NIA was also looking for Iqbal, a resident of Hapur district for giving shelter to Malook.
NIA teams are reportedly searching for him in the National Capital Region.
On Tuesday, Pahar Singh, 48, was arrested from his residence in Meerut on charges of supplying a home-made weapon to the main accused, Hardeep Singh.
The NIA earlier had arrested Ramandeep and Hardeep Singh for the murder of Gosain, 60, who was shot dead on October 17 near his house while returning after a morning RSS meeting.
The NIA took over the case from Punjab Police.
The agency took over the case from Punjab Police following a Home Ministry order on Thursday, nearly a month after the state government decided to hand over the investigation to it.
Gosain, 60, was returning home after attending a morning drill (RSS Shakha) when he was attacked by two unidentified bike-borne assailants in Ludhiana last month. He died on the spot while the attackers fled.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had decided to hand over the probe to the NIA while announcing Rs 5 lakh compensation for the deceased's family and a government job for one of his progeny.
The NIA, in compliance of the Ministry of Home Affairs order, has re-registered the case under sections 10, 12 and 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, sections 302 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code and section 25 of the Arms Act at Jodhewal police station yesterday, the spokesman said.
An NIA team from New Delhi has reached Ludhiana to take over the investigation.
On October 17, two unidentified persons killed Gosain, chief of Raghunathnagar Shakha of the RSS in Ludhiana, when he was sitting outside his house.
Initially, a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Gagan Ajit Singh was formed by the state government to probe the case.
Gosain, who lost his wife to cancer some years ago, is survived by four children.
The killing of the RSS leader was the latest in a series of murderous attacks on right-wing and religious leaders in Punjab. This was the eighth such incident in the state since 2016.
According to sources in the police, Pahan admitted to taking a contract of Rs 5 crore to kill the then Janata Dal-United (JD-U) legislator Munda. The contract was given by another former Minister Gopal Krishna Patar alias Raja Peter.
Raja Peter was arrested on Monday by the NIA in connection with the murder of Munda.
Munda was gunned by Maoist guerrillas in a public meeting on the outskirts of Ranchi in July 2008.
Sources in the police said the deal was struck between the politburo of the banned Maoist organization, Communist Party of India-Maoist, and Raja Peter.
Initially, Rs 3 crore was paid in advance and Rs 2 crore was paid after Munda was killed. The remaining Rs 2 crore could not reach the politburo of the CPI-Maoist as Maoist commander Balram Sahu escaped with the money. Balram was later arrested by police.
NIA is investigating how such a huge amount came to Raja Peter and who were the sponsors. Raja Peter is at present on NIA remand.
The sources revealed that the NIA is investigating the murder of Munda from many angles. The NIA is likely to interrogate more jailed Maoists to unveil the murder mystery.
Raja Peter had created history by defeating then Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM chief Shibu Soren in the January 2009 by-election to the Tamar seat, which fell vacant after the murder of Ramesh Singh Munda. After Shibu Soren lost the poll, President's Rule was imposed in Jharkhand. Raja Peter was again elected from the seat in the November 2009 Assembly poll and later became Minister.
Along with Raja Peter, NIA arrested Assistant Sub Inspector Sheshnath Singh in the Munda murder. Singh was the bodyguard of Munda and he allegedly passed on information about the movement of Munda to Maoists.
The person arrested was identified as Azharudeen aka Azhar, 24, a resident of Narath in Kerala.
An NIA official told IANS that Azhar was arrested on Monday night. He would be produced before the trial court in Ernakulam later on Tuesday.
The counter-terror agency said the arrest involved the April 23, 2013, case when the secret training camp was organised by Thanal Foundation Trust inside one of its building to impart training in using of swords and explosives.
On January 20, 2016, the NIA Special court had found 21 persons of the Popular Front of India (PFI) guilty of the charges including criminal conspiracy, membership of unlawful assembly, possession of arms and explosive substances, inciting communal disharmony, assertions prejudicial to national integration besides organising the terrorist camp.
The case was first registered by the state police, before it was taken over by the NIA in August 2013.
As per a press release of NIA, Rahman who is currently based in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia was arrested from IGI Airport in New Delhi yesterday and is being produced in Patiala House Court today to take him on remand for interrogation.
Acting DGP of Odisha, Satyajit Mohanty stated that, "Odisha's Special Task Force is in contact with NIA and if needed we will assist them in probe here."
According to reports, Habib was one of the handlers of LeT terrorist Shaikh Abdul Naeem who was arrested in 2007 while trying to infiltrate two Pakistani and one Kashmiri terrorist into India via Bangladesh.
Shaikh Abdul Naeem alias Nomi later on escaped from custody while he was being taken for court attendance to Maharashtra from Kolkata in August 2014, informed NIA sources.
As per the NIA press release, after his escape from custody, Nomi again started his nefarious activities on the directions of his handlers based in Pakistan and in Saudi Arabia. A well-established conspiracy was hatched between the accused for targeting vulnerable locations in India with intent of causing maximum damage, read the NIA release.
As per official sources, Naeem was asked to identify locations where terrorist attacks could be carried out. On getting directions, Naeem visited different States including Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh and did reconnaissance of possible targets for terrorist attacks.
According to NIA, Habibur Rahman, who is affiliated to LeT, arranged shelter/hideouts and funds for Nomi on different occasions for carrying out terrorist activities in India on the directions of the LeT commander Amjad alias Rehan, who is based in Pakistan.
Nomi was then subsequently arrested by NIA in Nov 2017 and he has been chargesheeted along with 10 other co-accused including Habibur.
"Not just calls or emails, but any data found on a computer can be intercepted. The agencies will also have powers to seize the devices," reported NDTV.
The order of MHA stated, "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (21 of 2000) read with rule 4 of the Information Technology ( Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009, the Competent Authority hereby authorises the following Security and Intelligence Agencies for the purposes of interception, monitoring and decryption of any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource under the said Act."
The ten agencies listed in the Ministry order are: (i) Intelligence Bureau; (ii) Narcotics Control Bureau; (iii) Enforcement Directorate; (iv) Central Board of Direct Taxes; (v) Directorate of Revenue Intelligence; (vi) Central Bureau of Investigation; (vii) National Investigation Agency; (viii) Cabinet Secretariat (RAW); (ix) Directorate of Signal Intelligence (For service areas of Jammu & Kashmir, North-East and Assam only); (x) Commissioner of Police, Delhi.
In response to the MHA orders, P Chidambaram said, " I have not yet studied the matter, but if anybody is going to monitor computers then it is an Orwellian state (a condition that George Orwell identified as destructive for a free society)."
Congress' Ahmed Patel said, "The sweeping powers given to the agencies to snoop phone calls and computers without any checks and balances is extremely worrisome. This is likely to be misused."
Meanwhile, the MHA has clarified that no new powers have been conferred to any of the security or law enforcement agencies by the S.O dated December 20, 2018 and each case of interception, monitoring, decryption is to be approved by the competent authority i.e. Union Home secretary.
Responding to Congress leader Anand Sharma over MHA order allowing ten agencies to monitor any computer, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated, "On December 20, same order of authorisation was repeated that was existing since 2009. You are making a mountain where a molehill does not exist."
Union IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also said, "This has been done in national security interest. It has been done under the law made by the Manmohan Singh govt in 2009.Each case of interception and the decision is to be approved Union Home Secretary."
An NIA spokesperson said that the anti-terror agency filed its first supplementary charge sheet before the NIA Special Court at Kolkata in connection with West Bengal LeT online recruitment module case.
The official said that the agency has named Tania Parveen aka Isranoor, Sayyad M. Idris aka Idris, a resident of Uttar Kannada district in Karnataka, and absconding accused Ayesha aka Ayesha Burhan, a resident of Punjab in Pakistan under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The official said that Parveen was a college student and was radicalised and recruited in cyberspace by Pakistan-based cadres of LeT.
“She was co-admin of various social media groups espousing secessionist ideas on Kashmir with accused Ayesha Burhan, a Pakistan-based cadre of LeT’s Women’s wing,” the official said.
Parveen, in association with other accused members of LeT in India and Pakistan indulged in unlawful activities, radicalised, recruited and motivated other people through cyberspace for Jihad against India, the official added.
“She and other accused were brainwashing impressionable youth and propagating the ideology of LeT, a proscribed terrorist organisation, thus conspiring to wage war against the state,” the official added.
The NIA took over the probe in April last year and is targeting the female spy ring in the country, working for the banned terror outfits of Pakistan.
The NIA officials said that the special task force nabbed Praveen, a student of the Maulana Azad College — a state-run Kolkata college, from Baduria near the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, after an year-long surveillance.
Earlier, the NIA had filed charge sheet against Parveen under several sections of the UA(P)A.
"The MHA is likekly to issue a notification shortly," an MHA source told IANS.
The Jammu and Kashmir police has registered a case.
A day after the the February 14 terror attack in which more than 40 CRPF troopers were killed, an NIA team along with the explosive and forensic experts had collected the materials required for the probe.
It was the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since militancy erupted in 1989. The suicide attack on the Srinagar-Jammu highway was claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammad.
The NIA court had in January 2014 framed charges against Aseemanand and three others -- Kamal Chauhan, Rajinder Chaudhary and Lokesh Sharma. All of them were present in the court on Wednesday.
They had been charged with criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder, sedition and more.
The blast on February 18, 2007 in the train, which runs between Delhi and Lahore, at Haryana's Panipat left 43 Pakistanis, 10 Indians and 15 unidentified people dead. A dozen people, including 10 Pakistanis, were also injured.
The blasts took place in two coaches of the train (Delhi-Attari) near a railway station in Diwana village, 160 km from here.
The raids which began in the morning were still underway, they said.
In August 2018, the NIA had arrested two alleged ISIS sympathisers --Mohammed Abdullah Basith and Mohd Abdul Qhadeer -- from the city as part of its larger probe into Indian youngsters being radicalised to carry out terror strikes on behalf of the banned international outfit.
"The fresh raids were being carried out in connection with this module after a supplementary charge sheet was filed against them in February this year and based on fresh inputs," police added.
"NIA teams are conducting searches at two places here in connection with an ISIS module case," a senior police official of the Cyberabad Police Commissionerate told PTI.
However, he refused to divulge further details.
Faiz, a resident of Delhi's Garhi Mendu, was found to be a main member of the pro-Islamic State module Harkat-Ul-Harb-E-Islam, who was instrumental in bringing other members besides founding the group, said an NIA statement.
He is the 14th accused to have been arrested in the case, the statement said, adding that he was one of the key conspirators in planning to carry out the attacks.
Investigation has revealed that Faiz was closely involved in the procurement of arms and ammunition for the group to carry out terrorist acts in and around the NCR.
"The case pertains to the Harkat-Ul-Harb-E-Islam group of terrorists who formed a gang which was engaged in acts preparatory to commission of terror attacks with a view to wage war against the government of India."
It was found that Mufti Mohammad Suhail, a resident of Jafrabad in east Delhi, was the "Amir" of the module, and had mobilized funds and procured weapons, ammunition and explosive materials to prepare Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) with other associates, said the statement.
Faiz will be produced before a special NIA court on Wednesday.
Riyas Aboobacker was arrested from Kerala after he disclosed NIA investigators that he has been following speeches and videos of Hashim, a radical Tamil-speaking cleric who is believed to have masterminded the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka which left 253 people dead and over 500 injured.
The 29-year-old informed the NIA officials that he has been following Hasim for more than a year and has also followed the speeches of Zakir Naik, an absconding Indian Islamic preacher and the founder of the Islamic Research Foundation.
Aboobacker admitted that he wanted to carry out a suicide attack in Kerala. He was being questioned by the NIA since Sunday when the agency unearthed the Kasargod module of the terrorist outfit in Kerala during multiple raids at the house of three suspects.
Aboobacker alias Abu Dujana, a resident of Palakkad in Kerala, has been arrested on charges for conspiring to commit a terrorist act, an NIA statement said.
The suspect, NIA said, revealed during his interrogation that he had been in online contact with an absconding suspect Abdul Rashid Abdulla for a long time and has been following his audio clips including the clip which he had circulated on social media platform instigating others to carry out terror attacks in India.
Aboobacker revealed that he was also having online chat with Abdul Khayoom, a suspect in Valapattanam Islamic State case, who was believed to be in Syria, said the anti-terror agency.
The NIA had earlier received inputs that a group of four persons has been in contact with some accused identified as Abdul Rashid, Ashfaq Majeed, Abdul Khayoom who had already migrated to Afghanistan and Syria.
After verification, NIA carried out searches at three places (two in Kasaragod and one in Palakkad District) on Sunday.
The agency said three group members have been interrogated for their Islamic State links and their plans and that this case was registered in July 2016 following the disappearance of 15 youths from Kasargod and their subsequent migration to Islamic State (14 persons to Afghanistan and one person to Syria).
Aboobacker will be produced before a special NIA court in Kochin in Kerala on Tuesday, said the agency.
According to a senior NIA official, searches were carried out in Muthupet, Keelakarai, Devipattinam, Lalpet and Salem to unearth details on the terror modules of the Islamic State and smash the network. The module is called "martyrdom is our only motto".
According to the agency sources, raids are underway at the residence of Sheik Dawood, Mohammed Riyaz, Sadhik, Mubharis Ahmad, Rizwan and Hameed Akbar, whose names are mentioned in the case.
The official said during the raids the agency seized a number of digital devices, including three laptops, three hard disks, 16 mobile phones, eight SIM cards, two pen drives, five memory cards and one card reader, two knives and a large number of incriminating documents.
The case relates to a group of 10 people, belonging to different parts of Tamil Nadu, who had formed a WhatsApp group named 'Shahdat is our goal' (martyrdom is our only motto).
In 2018, according to the NIA, the group conspired to procure arms, raise funds to wage armed struggle, facilitate escape of terrorists from jails and propagate their ideology to act against the state.
The case was initially registered by the Tamil Nadu Police on April 2, 2018 in the Ramanathapuram district under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act.
The police arrested nine accused, while one is absconding. Later, they were released on bail by the court.
The NIA has arrested Habibur Rehman Sheikh, wanted in the 2014 Burdwan blast case, from the Dodabalpur area of the Karnataka capital.
The official said the agency has sought help of the bomb disposal squad of Bengaluru Police to defuse the IEDs.
The official said the accused has also revealed his involvement in several instances of robberies committed in Bengaluru in 2018 in order to raise the fund for the activities of JMB.
According to NIA officials, Sheikh was a close associate of senior JMB leader Jahidul Islam alias Kausar and was associated with other JMB leaders such as Rahamatullah Sheikh and Moulana Yusuf.
He was named in a chargesheet filed by the NIA in the case in March, 2015 for his direct involvement in the conspiracy of the JMB to wage war against governments of India and Bangladesh.
The official said that Sheikh was an active member of JMB's Bolpur module in West Bengal and had attended a number of training camps conducted by the JMB.
At least two persons died and another was injured in a bomb explosion at a house in the Khagragarh locality of Burdwan on October 2, 2014.
The Bangladesh government banned the JMB in 2005, while India banned it in May this year.
On Tuesday, the JMB operative was produced before the NIA Special Judge in Bengaluru, which has granted five days' transit remand for producing him before the Special NIA Court in Kolkata.
Special NIA Judge Rakesh Syal will examine the charge sheet, which names 10 accused, including mastermind Mufti Mohammad Suhail.
According to the charge sheet, Sohail formed the ISIS module, 'Harkat-ul-Harb-E-Islam' (Movement for War of Islam), with the 10 accused and amassed weapons and explosives to commit terrorist activities. The module was being guided by three ISIS handlers based abroad.
Investigation revealed that Suhail and other co-accused persons entered into a criminal conspiracy to wage a violent war (jihad) with the use of weapons and explosives to establish an ISIS Caliphate in India.
"On December 26, 2018, searches were conducted at 17 locations in Delhi and UP, and 12 pistols, 163 assorted ammunition, one improvised missile launcher, 98 mobile devices/ phones, 25 kg of explosive chemicals, hardware/electronic materials, including 120 alarm slocks to make IEDs, and incriminating books/material were seized from the premises of accused persons," the agency said.
The search operations were carried out after a Special NIA court granted those 16 suspects' custody to the NIA for eight days.
The agency raided residences of Mohamed Ibrahim, Mohamed Sheik Maitheen, Meeran Ghani, Gulam Nabi Asath, Ahamed Azarudhen, Toufiq Ahmed, Mohamed Ibrahim, Mohammed Afzar, Rafi Ahamed, Munthasir, Umar Barook, Mohideen Seeni Shahul Hameed, Faizal Sharief and Farook.
The anti-terror probe agency official said raids were conducted at five places in the Ramanthapuram district, two in the Theni district and one each in Chennai, Tirunelveli, Madurai cities and the Tanjavur, Perambalur, Nagapattinam and Thiruvarur districts.
The agency seized one laptop, seven mobile phones, five SIM cards, three memory cards, one hard disk drive, two pen drives, one internet dongle, nine CDs/DVDs and about 50 documents.
The NIA has registered case against the 16 accused and their associates for allegedly owing allegiance to banned terrorist organisations -- IS/Daesh, Al Qaeda and SIMI. The accused were allegedly trying to set up a terror outfit named 'Ansarulla'.
According to the NIA, the accused had conspired and were making preparations to wage war against the Indian government. The accused and their associates had collected funds to carry out terrorist attacks with an intention of establishing Islamic rule in India, the NIA said in a statement on Friday.
As per the NIA, the accused were luring people for terror strikes and were posting videos and other jihadi propaganda material, exhorting their supporters to conduct terrorist attacks using explosives, poison, knives and vehicles.
The NIA had arrested 9 people -- Hassan Ali, Harish Mohamed, Mohamed Ibrahim, Meeran Ghani, Gulam Nabisath, Rafi Ahamed, Munthasir Umar Barook and Farook -- on July 13.
On July 15, seven more people -- Mohamed Sheik Maitheen, Ahamed Azarudhen, Toufiq Ahmed, Mohamed Ibrahim, Mohammed Afzar, Mohideen Seeni Shahul Hameed and Faizal Sharief -- were arrested.
While Lok Sabha had passed the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 that seeks to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 on July 24, Rajya Sabha approved it by voice vote on Friday after rejecting an opposition-sponsored motion to send it to select committee.
Rajya Sabha rejected the opposition-sponsored motion to send the amendment to select committee with 104 votes against it as compared to 85 in favour.
The House passed the amendment to the law with 147 votes in favour and 42 against it.
Replying to a debate on the amendment, Home Minister Amit Shah said a four-level scrutiny has been provided in the amendment and no human rights will be violated.
He said declaring individuals as terrorists is required as they float different organisations once an institution is banned.
Individuals can be declared terrorists if they commit or participate in acts of terrorism, prepare or promote terror, he said.
The amendment will expedite prosecution in terror cases, he said.
Terrorism has no religion, terrorists are against humanity, he said seeking support of all parties to support stringent laws against terrorism.
Responding to opposition concerns of the law being misused, he said no one's human rights will be violated as a four-stage scrutiny with provision for appeal has been prescribed when individuals are declared terrorists.
Elaborating on the track record of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), he said out of 278 terror cases registered by the agency, charge sheet has been filed in 204 cases. Of the 54 cases where judgements have come, conviction has been there in 48.
Track record of NIA in conviction in terror cases is outstanding, he said.
Rashid, who was a legislator from the Langate Assembly seat in north Kashmir, is the first mainstream politician to have been arrested by the NIA in the case.
He was earlier questioned in the case in 2017 and again summoned earlier this week.
The officials said that he was unable to give any convincing answers to the questions and therefore, his custodial questioning became necessary.
His name had cropped up during the interrogation of businessman Zahoor Watali, who was arrested by the NIA for allegedly supplying money to terror groups and separatists in the Valley.
The NIA had registered the case against separatist and secessionist leaders, including unknown members of the Hurriyat Conference, who have been acting in connivance with active militants of proscribed terrorist organisations Hizbul Mujahideen, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other outfits and gangs, the officials said.
The case was registered for raising, receiving and collecting funds through various illegal means, including hawala, for funding separatist and terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir and for causing disruption in the Valley by way of pelting stones on the security forces, burning schools, damaging public property and waging war against India, the probe agency said in the FIR.
Hafiz Saeed, the Pakistan-based chief of the Jamaat-ud- Dawa, the front of the Lashker-e-Taiba, has been named in the FIR as an accused.
The FIR also names organisations such as the two factions of the Hurriyat, one led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the other by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Dukhtaran-e-Millat, an all-women outfit of separatists.
The businessman has complained that the officers sought Rs 2 crore from him so as not to name him in a terror funding case involving Mumbai terror attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed, the agency said on Tuesday.
The officers have been transferred out of the counter-terrorism agency unit until the matter was "thoroughly examined", the NIA said.
"A complaint of misconduct was received against the officers. An enquiry into the allegations is being conducted by a Deputy Inspector General-level officer. In the meantime, the three officials have been transferred out to ensure a fair probe," the NIA spokesperson said.
The NIA got the complaint about a month ago regarding the SP and two junior officers who were investigating the Falah-i-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), run by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Laskhar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed.
"We have initiated an enquiry against the officials to maintain a zero tolerance policy against corruption. Strict action will be taken if they are found to have indulged in corruption," an NIA officer said.
The SP was earlier the chief investigation officer of the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast while the other two are from the intelligence and operations wings of the NIA, said the official, adding they had carried out searches against a businessman from North Delhi.
The names of the officials and the businessman are being withheld for now.
The NIA last year registered a case against the FIF's deputy chief Shahid Mahmood and others for hatching a conspiracy around 2012 to create sleeper cells and logistics bases in Delhi and Haryana under the garb of religious work.
After lodging the case, the NIA arrested Mohammad Salman and Mohammad Salim, both residents of Delhi, and later Mohammad Hussain Molani, a resident of Nagaur in Rajasthan.
In July, the NIA secured the deportation of Mohammad Arif Gulambashir Dharampuria, a trader from Valsad in Gujarat, from the United Arab Emirates.
The NIA has filed two chargesheets against the accused including Hafiz Saeed in connection with that case.
In the recent chargesheet filed on July 18, the agency named a 43-year-old person, Molani, for hatching a criminal conspiracy and under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
According to NIA, Deputy chief of FIF Mahmood tasked his associate Mohammad Kamran, a Pakistani national based in Dubai, for re-routing funds from Pakistan to Dubai and further to India through hawala channels.
"During this preparatory work, the target persons were intended to be used for creating sleeper cells and hideouts," said the NIA, adding Kamran identified a few Indian nationals in Dubai and one person in India, Mohammad Salman, for this purpose.
The raids were in connection with persons suspected to have connections with terror organisations. The action follows a high alert issued in the state last week following intelligence inputs about infiltration by six Lashkar men from Pakistan via the Sri Lanka route.
Five teams of the NIA were carrying out the raids. So far several laptops and pen drives have been seized, an officer said.
The intelligence agencies have warned of planned terror attacks by the infiltrators at places of worship and other vital installations.
The police said on Sunday that it has seized a huge cache of arms, including five AK-47 rifles, pistols, satellite phones and hand grenades, following the raid.
Given the international links and the ramifications of the conspiracy, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has decided to hand over further investigations in the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to ensure that the entire conspiracy is fully and expeditiously unraveled.
With initial investigations revealing the use of drones to deliver weapons and communication hardware from across the border, the Chief Minister has also urged the Central government to direct the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Border Security Force (BSF) to launch necessary counter-measures to check any further hostile drone activity in the border state of Punjab.
Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta told reporters here that the weapons were suspected to have been delivered recently from across the Indo-Pakistan border using drones launched by the Pakistani establishment, the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence ISI, and state-sponsored Jihadi and pro-Khalistani terrorist outfits working under its command.
Gupta said the large-scale infiltration appeared to have been aimed at scaling up terrorism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and the Indian hinterland, in the wake of the recent developments in the Kashmir Valley.
He said the police operation was based on different inputs gathered from sources that activists of the banned KZF planned to carry out multiple terrorist strikes in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and other states.
In an operation carried out by Amritsar AIG (Counter Intelligence) Ketan Baliram Patil along with various Punjab Police teams based in Chandigarh, four module members have been arrested and a large quantity of arms, ammunition, explosives and communication devices have been seized by the police.
Gupta said the module was backed by the Pakistan-based chief of KZF, Ranjeet Singh, and his Germany-based associate Gurmeet Singh, who had re-organized their outfit to revive terrorism in Punjab.
With the help of local sleeper cells, they had spotted, radicalised and recruited local members, besides arranging funds and sophisticated weapons from across the border for operationalising the local module members.
Those arrested have been identified as Balwant Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Balbir Singh.
Both Akashdeep and Baba Balwant Singh have a criminal past with multiple criminal cases against them.
Altogether five AK-47 rifles, along with 16 magazines and 472 rounds of ammunition, four Chinese made .30 bore pistols, along with high magazines and 72 rounds of ammunition, nine hand grenades, five Thuraya satellite phones and Rs 10 lakh fake Indian currency notes have been recovered from them.
The weapons belonged to Pakistan-based Khalistani terror groups. The sorties, first of their kind in the state, were made between September 9 and 16, the official associated the state's counter-intelligence wing, which is investigating the incident, told IANS.
Terrorist Akashdeep Singh, who has been arrested in this connection, has confessed that he was in touch with Pakistan-based terrorist Ranjeet Singh Neeta on the arms drops, said the official, requesting anonymity.
Police have also recovered a drone, the last one, that crashed in the Indian territory. It was fitted with high-end technology and GPS.
Three days ago, in a major crackdown on terror, the police busted a module of the revived Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), the Pakistan-backed, Germany-based militant group that was conspiring to unleash a series of terrorist strikes in Punjab and adjoining states, especially Jammu and Kashmir.
A cache of arms, including five AK-47 rifles, and other material was also seized in the raid in border Tarn Taran district.
Given the international links and the ramifications of the conspiracy, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has decided to hand over further investigations in the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to ensure that the entire conspiracy is fully and expeditiously unraveled.
He also sought Union Home Minister Amit Shah's intervention.
"Recent incidents of Pakistan-origin drones dropping consignments of arms & ammunition is a new and serious dimension on Pakistan's sinister designs in aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370.
"Request @AmitShah ji to ensure that this drone problem is handled at the earliest," he said in a series of tweets.
The Chief Minister has also urged the Central government to direct the Indian Air Force and the Border Security Force to launch necessary counter-measures to check any further hostile attempts.
Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta told reporters that the weapons were suspected to have been delivered by drones launched by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and state-sponsored jihadi and pro-Khalistani terrorist outfits working under its command.
He said that the purpose seems to have been scaling up terrorism and militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and the Indian hinterland, in the wake of the recent developments in the Kashmir Valley.
He said the police operation was based on different inputs gathered from sources that activists of the banned KZF planned to carry out multiple terrorist strikes in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and other states.
In an operation carried out by Assistant Inspector General, Counter Intelligence, Ketan Baliram Patil, along with various Punjab Police teams based in Chandigarh, four module members were arrested and arms, ammunition, explosives and communication devices seized.
Gupta said the module was backed by the Pakistan-based KZF chief Neeta, and his Germany-based associate Gurmeet Singh, who had re-organised their outfit to revive terrorism in Punjab.
With the help of local sleeper cells, they had spotted, radicalised and recruited local members, besides arranging funds and sophisticated weapons from across the border for operationalising their modules.
Those arrested in the raid have been identified as Baba Balwant Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Balbir Singh - with the first two having a criminal past and multiple cases against them.
Altogether, five AK-47 rifles, along with 16 magazines and 472 rounds of ammunition, four Chinese made .30 bore pistols, along with magazines and 72 rounds of ammunition, nine hand grenades, five Thuraya satellite phones and Rs 10 lakh in fake Indian currency notes have been recovered from them, the police said.
"Role of Pakistan High Commission in supporting the separatist and other networks through the transfer of funds via financial conduits and in providing directions to continue the unrest in the Kashmir Valley has also been clearly established," a statement from the agency said.
The agency earlier in the day filed a charge sheet against five accused in the terror funding case involving 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saaed.
The charge sheet named Yasin Malik as well as the founder and President of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party Shabir Shah, Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi, All Party Hurriyat Conference General Secretary Masarat Alam and former MLA Rashid Engineer.
The agency has also claimed that it has recovered some videos wherein the said accused persons were seen, exhorting the general public for illegal acts, sympathising with the militants and seeking direct support from Pakistan.
"Various incriminating chats and emails have been recovered from the email accounts of Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah wherein description of receipt of funds from Pakistan and various other countries have been revealed. It has also been found that Yasin Malik has been getting funds from foreign countries through hawala channels for causing unrest and insurgency in Kashmir," the NIA said.
The agency further states that it has recovered sufficient evidence against suspected terrorist Masarat Alam.
"Investigations have also established the nexus of Aasiya Andrabi, leader of proscribed organization Dukhtaran-e-Millat with different militant and terrorist organizations and with hawala financial conduit Zahoor Watali," the statement said.
The agency also claimed that the role of Engineer Rashid in the alleged conspiracy to destabilize Kashmir and cause unrest has also been revealed.
Submitting the charge sheet, the agency said fresh material have surfaced in the form of social media evidence, call records, oral and documentary evidence.
"New material shows the relationship of the persons charge-sheeted with the cross border accused Hafiz Saeed (co-founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and the chief of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah) and Syed Salahudeen (the head of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen)," said the NIA.
The court will take cognizance of the matter on October 23.
The NIA in 2017 arrested several separatists belonging to the two factions of Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, respectively, for terror funding.
In its first charge sheet filed last year, the agency named Geelani's son-in-law Altaf Fantosh, Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmed Shah Watali, Naeem Khan, Raja Mehrajudin Kalwal, Bashir Ahmed Bhat, alias Peer Saifullah, Aftab Hilali Shah, alias Shahid ul Islam, Farooq Ahmed Dar, alias Bitta Karate, Mohammad Akbar Khandey, alias Ayaz Akbar and Javed Ahmed Bhat, among others.
The NIA had registered the case in May 2017 against various separatist leaders who were acting in connivance with terrorist organisations like Hizb-ul-Mujahideen (HM), Dukhtarane Millat, and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for collecting funds through illegal means for funding terrorist activities and stone-pelting in Jammu and Kashmir.
With this, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has so far arrested three police officers in Mumbai, including suspended assistant police inspector Sachin Waze and his colleague Riyaz Kazi, in connection with these cases.
“Mane was called by the NIA for questioning on Thursday in connection with the Ambani security scare and Mansukh Hiran murder cases,” the official said.
He was arrested after his involvement came to light, he said.
Mane will be produced in a court, the official said.
Following his arrest, Mane was taken to a state-run hospital for medical check-up, he added.
The central agency had earlier arrested two more persons- suspended Mumbai police constable Vinayak Shinde and cricket bookie Naresh Gor.
Mane, who was in charge of Unit-11 (Kandivali) of the Mumbai crime branch, was transferred in the wake of the Ambani security scare case.
The NIA had recorded his statement a few weeks ago, the official said.
Mane had been questioned by the Maharashtra Anti- Terrorism Squad (ATS), but senior officials had then claimed that he was cooperating with it in the investigation.
The explosives-laden SUV was found near Ambani’s house in south Mumbai on February 25. Hiran, a Thane-based businessman, had claimed that he was in possession of the SUV, but the vehicle had been stolen before its recovery near Antilia, Ambani’s multi-storey residence. Hiran’s body was found in a creek in Thane on March 5.
Hiran’s widow, Vimla, in her statement to the ATS had said that while leaving home on March 4, her husband had told her that he had received a call from ‘Tawade’, a police officer from Kandivali and he was going to meet him.
"The case was with the Andhra Pradesh Police and now the Ministry of Home Affairs has transferred the case to NIA," said a senior Indian Police Service officer.
On December 20, the Indian intelligence agencies busted an espionage racket linked to Pakistan with the arrest of seven Indian Navy personnel and a hawala operator.
The arrest of the seven naval officials from Mumbai, Karwar and Vishakapatnam for leaking sensitive information about the movements of warships and submarines to Pakistani agents had exposed lapses in the security apparatus placed around critical assets in India.
"Three sailors were arrested from Visakhapatnam, two from Karwar and two from Mumbai," said intelligence agencies which busted the espionage racket being run by Pakistan.
The agencies had stated that both Eastern and Western naval command centres, responsible for the security of the maritime borders with China and Pakistan, were exposed to these Pakistani agents.
"Some more suspects are being questioned," the agencies said.
The agencies pointed out that Vishakapatnam, the headquarters of the Eastern Command of the Indian Navy and also the base of the nuclear submarine Arihant, was exposed to the espionage racket. It also stated that the Eastern Command keeps vigil upon the suspicious Chinese ship movements in the Indian waters.
The western naval command is located in Mumbai from where all nefarious activities carried out by Pakistan was also exposed and so was Karvar, the naval centre which has force's lone aircraft carrier Vikramaditya.
The Indian Navy, however, maintained that all of their critical assets were intact and there was no breach.
Earlier, the navy said: "In a joint operation with the Naval Intelligence and Central Intelligence Agencies, Andhra Pradesh Police arrested some junior navy personnel. The case is under investigation by the Andhra Pradesh Police.
The Andhra Pradesh Police intelligence wing had also said that they have busted the racket under an operation named 'Dolphin's Nose' in association with the central intelligence agencies and Naval Intelligence.
The accused were produced before a court in Vijayawada on December 20. They were remanded to the judicial custody till January 3.
The police had said that all the arrested officials were in touch with Pakistani women who had befriended them on Facebook.
It is alleged that officials were paid through a hawala operator for providing information. The chats between these sailors, who were being used by Pakistanis, were sexually explicit.
Sources said the women, who honey-trapped the navy personnel posing as their friends on Facebook, were set up by the Pakistani intelligence operatives. The sailors were later blackmailed and forced to give information.
"We are further probing the matter and more people could be arrested," said agencies.
(IANS)
Davinder Singh was arrested on Saturday along with Hizbul Mujahideen commander Naveed Babu, his accomplice Rafi and a lawyer named Irfan from a car on the highway near Kulgam. He was allegedly taking Babu to Jammu to help him travel to Pakistan in connivance with Irfan.
Arms and ammunition were later recovered from multiple raids conducted at the residences of Davinder in Srinagar.
The disgraced DIG is currently being interrogated by a joint team of the Centre and J&K.
(IANS)
An NIA spokesperson said that it has re-registered the case against Singh and the three terrorists, who were arrested along with arms and ammunition while travelling in a car.
The NIA registered the case after it received orders from the Union Home Ministry.
Earlier, a team of NIA officials, including an Inspector General rank official, reached Srinagar and collected all the information from police in Jammu and Srinagar.
Singh was arrested on January 11 with top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Naveed Babu, his accomplice Rafi and a lawyer named Irfan from a car on the highway near Kulgam.
He was allegedly taking Babu to Jammu to help him travel to Pakistan in connivance with Irfan.
As per police sources, a sum of Rs 12 lakh may have been given to Singh to move out the two Hizbul militants to Jammu on their way to Chandigarh and onward to Delhi to carry out attacks on or before the Republic Day.
Singh, who was posted in the anti-hijacking squad at the Srinagar international airport, was suspended from service on Monday and is likely to be stripped of all his awards, including a gallantry medal, for anti-militancy operations on August 15, 2019.
(IANS)
Sources said that the investigating team will be in Kashmir for a week to collect evidence before heading back to Delhi.
According to sources, Singh will also be taken to Delhi when the team returns.
The investigating team will go to Kulgam, Qazigund, Srinagar airport and residences of Singh in the next few days to collect evidences.
A case was registered by the NIA on Saturday after receiving the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) order and started the investigation.
Singh was arrested on January 11 with three Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists including top commander Naveed Babu, along with arms and ammunition, while they were travelling in a car in Kazipur on the National Highway.
Sources said, Singh was taking Babu to Jammu and was facilitating him to travel to Pakistan. A lawayer Irfan Ahmed was also arrested.
Multiple investigating agencies have been questioning Singh ever since, who has served key postings in the past.
Singh was associated with J&K police that fights terrorism. He was also posted in the anti-hijacking wing at Srinagar.
Besides, Singh was also the part of the officials which received delegation of ambassadors that visited Kashmir earlier this month.
(IANS)
Singh was caught along with two terrorists Naveed Babu and Rafi Ahmed, and a lawyer Irfan Ahmed in a Jammu-bound vehicle on January 11.
Police sources had said that the two terrorists and the lawyer had planned a travel to Pakistan after reaching Jammu.
Singh was earlier shifted from Srinagar to Jammu on a transit remand where an NIA team questioned him.
After his arrest by the J&K police, multiple raids were conducted at his residence in Srinagar. Also, fresh raids were conducted by the NIA on Wednesday.
Singh was posted with the anti-hijacking wing of Jammu and Kashmir police in Srinagar, and was part of the security staff that received a group of foreign ambassadors who visited Kashmir earlier this month.
After initial investigation by Jammu and Kashmir police, the case was transferred to NIA on the direction of Ministry of Home Affairs.
(IANS)
On Friday, the NIA submitted its chargesheet against the accused in the Kerala High Court, following the anticipatory bail plea filed by Swapna.
After the NIA strongly opposed to it, the court didn't accept her plea and posted the matter for Tuesday and directed that a copy of the chargesheet be given to her.
In a statement issued by the NIA, it said an FIR has been registered in the Kerala gold smuggling case under Sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, against four accused persons -- P.S. Sarith, Swapna Prabha Suresh, Fazil Fareed and Sandeep Nair -- in connection with the seizure of 30 kg of 24 carat gold worth Rs 14.82 crore at the Trivandrum International Airport on July 5 by the Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate, Cochin.
It further pointed out that the aforesaid consignment was found camouflaged in a diplomatic baggage from the UAE that is exempted from inspection as per the Vienna Convention.
The said consignment was to be received by Sarith, who had worked in the UAE Consulate earlier as a Public Relations Officer.
Initial investigation by the Customs department has revealed that Sarith had received multiple such consignments earlier also.
"As the case pertains to smuggling of large quantity of gold into India from offshore locations, threatening the economic stability and national security of the country, it amounts to a terrorist act as stated in Section 15 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
"Further, as the case has national and international linkages and as initial enquiries have revealed that the proceeds of smuggled gold could be used for financing of terrorism in India, the NIA has taken up the investigation of the case," the NIA said.
Sarith and Swapna were former colleagues at the UAE Consulate office and later, Swapna joined a high-profile job attached to the IT department, where Sivasankar was the Secretary.
The NIA is also expected to look if any secret file has lost its secrecy.
Meanwhile, reports have surfaced that Swapna's graduate certificate is forged and according to her own brother is not aware if she had even passed Class X.
The case has heated up the political canvas in Kerala and senior Congress leaders from the state on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order a NIA-CBI-RAW probe into the gold smuggling case.
The party has already demanded that Vijayan should resign and held protests across the state despite the Covid-19 protocols in place.
It is to be seen now if a statement from the top official of the UAE Consulate here would be taken by the probe agency.
Meanwhile, continuing their protests for the second day, demanding the resignation of Pinarayi Vijayan in the gold smuggling case, youth outfits of the Congress and BJP on Saturday held state-wide agitations, which turned violent at a few places.
The Chief Minister, reacting to it, said organising such protests violating COVID-19 protocol will not be allowed.
The government is not questioning anyone's right to protest, he said.
The opposition parties are targeting the Chief Minister after it emerged that Swapna Suresh had been employed on contract by the IT department, a portfolio held by Vijayan.
Later, NIA took Swapna Suresh along with her family members into judicial custody in Bengaluru.
#KeralaGoldScandal case: Swapna Suresh, the key suspect, along with her family members, taken in custody by NIA (National Investigation Agency) in Bengaluru. Swapna Suresh will be produced in NIA office in Kochi tomorrow (ANI)
— OTV (@otvnews) July 11, 2020
(With Agency Inputs)
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An NIA official related to the probe told IANS, “Kaji was arrested on Saturday night.”
The official said that he was arrested after his role was identified by the anti-terror probe agency.
The NIA has arrested Vaze on March 13 after taking over the probe into the explosive laden vehicle.
The agency has recorded the statement of Kaji and several others. The agency also recorded the statement of former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in connection with the case.
The NIA has taken over the probe into the death of Mumbai-based businessman Mansukh Hiren.
After arresting Vaze, the NIA has recovered several high-end cars being used by him.
Abdul Momin Mondal, 32, of West Bengal's Murshidabad, was arrested on Sunday, a spokesperson of the NIA said.
On September 11, a case was registered pertaining to anti-national activities by a group of 10 Jihadi terrorists inspired by globally proscribed terrorist organisation al-Qaeda, he said.
The group was planning to carry out anti-national and terrorist activities at different locations in India, the NIA spokesperson said.
Mondal, who was working as a teacher in Raipur Darur Huda Islamia Madrassa in Murshidabad, was found to be involved in a series of conspiratorial meetings convened by the members of the al-Qaeda module, the official said.
He was also trying to recruit new members for the group and was raising funds for furthering its terrorist activities, the NIA spokesperson said. His house was searched and digital devices were seized, he said.
So far, 11 accused have been arrested in connection with the case. Mondal was produced before the district court in Murshidabad which granted his transit remand for transporting him to New Delhi.
Further probe into the case is underway, the spokesperson added.
(PTI)
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