Court rejects bail plea of Pune ISIS module case accused

Special court rejects bail plea of Dr Adnanali Qamarali Sarkar, arrested for alleged involvement in Pune ISIS module. Material on record shows complicity in crime.

MUMBAI: A special court rejected the bail plea of Dr Adnanali Qamarali Sarkar, arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) allegedly for being part of the Pune ISIS module. Special NIA judge BD Shelke rejected his bail plea observing that the material on record prima facies showed his complicity in the alleged crime.

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“The material placed on record by the NIA in the form of statements of witnesses and in the form of memorandum statement of accused, the discovery of articles, the discovery of data in electronic devices... demonstrates that there is sufficient prima facie material in respect of complicity of accused in this crime,” the judge said.

The 44-year-old doctor was arrested by NIA on July 27, 2023, for being part of the ISIS module busted by the federal agency. The federal agency alleged that the group radicalised and recruited young men and trained them in the fabrication of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and small arms for which they have shared relevant material including DIY kits among themselves.

NIA also alleged that on instructions from their foreign handlers, members of the module created media content. This content was subsequently published in the magazine “Voice of Hind” to propagate the ideology of ISIS further.

Dr Sarkar applied for bail contending that he had been falsely implicated in the case. He said he was summoned as a witness in the case but was arrested as he refused to give a statement against his brother-in-law Zulfikar Ali Barodawala, also an accused in the case, and there was no material to connect him with any plot to commit terrorist acts or propagate ISIS ideology.

The NIA opposed the plea, pointing out that a lot of material was seized from the accused in the form of printed material, videos, and speeches of ISIS leaders. It claimed that he was in frequent contact with other accused, and they were propagating violent Jihad, Hijrah to the land of Jihad for joining Islamic State. The agency added that Dr Sarkar used to deliver lectures (Dars) on various topics viz. stages of Jihad, revival of Khilafat, Hijrah, and Islamic State.

The special court accepted the contentions advanced on behalf of the federal agency and rejected the plea, observing that there was prima facie material and there were reasonable grounds to believe that the accused was prima facie guilty of the charges under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.