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JMB terror-funding case: NIA raids, searches two locations in U.P.
An NIA spokesman said that the raids were conducted in Muzaffarnagar and Deoband (Saharanpur) in connection with the case.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) searched two locations in Uttar Pradesh in the Bhopal terror-funding case, involving the banned organisation, JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, Bangladesh), on Wednesday.
An NIA spokesman said that the raids were conducted in Muzaffarnagar and Deoband (Saharanpur) in connection with the case. He said the premises of various suspects were searched and it led to the seizure of several digital devices (mobile phones), SIM cards, bank passbooks and identity documents. He said the documents, currently under examination, relate to suspect transactions related to transfer of funds by the accused.
He said that the raids were aimed at exposing further links and conspiracies of the 10 people already arrested and charge-sheeted in the case by the NIA Court, Bhopal. He said six of the arrested accused are Bangladeshi nationals and are active JMB members. He said they had entered India illegally, without valid documents, and had acquired false and forged Indian identity documents with the help of sympathisers in India.
The spokesman stated in the press release that NIA investigations have revealed that all the 10 arrested were involved in influencing, radicalising and motivating vulnerable Indian Muslim youth to take up violent Jihad against the democratic system of governance in the country.
He said they had been circulating incriminating Jihadi literature, inflammatory videos and statements, and endorsing, justifying and glorifying terrorist acts of various banned terrorist outfits, including JMB, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
He stated that they were conspiring to align with terrorist organisations to achieve their ultimate goal of establishing Shariat-based Islamic rule in India through the pursuit of violent Jihad. He said they had grand plans of creating a pan-India network to pursue their objective and, along with their co-accused, had successfully established bases in various states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura, West Bengal and Assam.
The press statement further stated that the case related to it was registered by the NIA on April 5, 2022, under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Foreigners Act, 1946. It was originally registered as FIR dated March 14, 2022, at STF police station of Bhopal, in the wake of the arrest of six active members of JMB from their rented house in Bhopal.
A cache of Jihadi literature, digital devices, printer, paper cutting machine, book-binding material etc. were also seized from the house. Given the ramifications of the case for national security, the NIA had subsequently taken over the investigations and arrested four more accused.
