NIA: IS wanted to set up wing in Bangladesh

NEW DELHI: Senior members of Islamic State-inspired Junood-ul-Khalifa Fil Hind (JKH), arrested by the NIA in a countrywide crackdown earlier this year, had planned to establish a wing in Bangladesh.

The outfit's deputy in India, Mohammad Nafees Khan, while radicalising fellow jihadi Mohammad Obedullah last year, boasted of connections with the top IS commanders in Syria, according to the chargesheet filed by the NIA in a special Delhi court on Tuesday . He informed the new recruit that while they had already formed the India wing -the JKH -they also planned to establish an arm in Bangladesh.

Dhaka was recently hit by a major terror attack in which 20 people, mostly foreigners, were killed. The attack was owned up by the IS, though Dhaka claimed it was the handiwork of local outfit Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

The NIA, which has charged 16 JKH members, including Syria-based principal recruiter Shafi Armar alias Yusuf al Hindi, and made two others approvers, claimed the members had met the Naxal operatives in Jharkhand to understand their “guerilla tactics“.

“During the coordination meeting, one accused, Mohammad Azhar Khan, suggested that since their fight was against security forces, they should adopt guerrilla tactics as done by Naxals. It was discussed that they should purchase land in a remote area to operate in a clandestine manner,“ says the chargesheet. Azhar said they should “make their own jihadi army like the Naxals and fight for human rights of Muslims“. In December 2015, Azhar asked others to go to Naxal areas to establish contacts. Four members went to Hazaribagh in Jharkhand.

Interestingly, two of the members, arrested by the NIA in January-February along with 18 others, turned approver and gave crucial details on the module's planning, training and sources of finance.

Nafees also told the new recruit that Muddabir Sheikh was appointed India emir (head) and “there were nearly 300 Indians who are ready to join the IS,“ says the chargesheet. While Nafees had alrea dy sent two members--Qadeer Mohammed and Arshad Ayub -to Syria, he claimed that “they will procure arms and ammunition from AssamBangladesh border and also trying to acquire grenades, AK-47 and RDX“.

In January this year, the members of the module had identified an isolated farm house in Vikarabad, about 75 km from Hyderabad.

NIA chargesheet also says that some of the accused had even discussed the demolition of Babri Masjid and Dadri lynching incidents in their conversations on social networking sites. It says the oufit members attended nine meetings in places like Tumkur, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai for planning, training and arranging finances.

The agency has named Armar, Muddabir Sheikh, Nafees Khan, Abu Anas, Najmul Huda and Mohammed Afzal and 10 others with charges under various sections of Indian Penal Code, Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act and Explosive Substances Act.

NIA secured scientific and forensic evidence that Armar had interacted on web-based social media networks (Facebook, WhatsApp, Trillian, Skype, Surespot, Twitter, Chat Secure, Nimbuzz and Telegram) with other arrested accused for recruitment, manufacturing IEDs, identifying places for training and hideouts and finally executing terror strikes at public places and vital installations in India.