New Delhi, Nov 12: Days after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) member from Goalpara district, the anti-terror agency on Monday conducted raids in Nagaon in connection with the activities of Al-Qaida conspiracy to destabilise India.
“We conducted the raid at one place in Nagaon district in connection to the activities of Al-Qaida and its sympathisers,” a senior NIA official told The Assam Tribune. Several incriminating documents were recovered during the raid, the official said.
The anti-terror agency conducted extensive simultaneous searches at multiple locations across the country in connection with the activities promoted by some Bangladeshi nationals as part of Al-Qaida's conspiracy to destabilise India.
"The crackdown at nine locations linked with individuals suspected of supporting and funding the activities of the proscribed terrorist organisation, started early in the morning in Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Bihar,” the official stated.
The searches led to the recovery of incriminating documents showing detailed banking transactions, digital devices, including mobile phones, and other evidence related to terror funding activities, the official said.
As per NIA investigations, the suspects whose premises were raided are sympathisers of a Bangladesh-based Al-Qaida network.
The raids were part of NIA's ongoing investigations into a 2023 case about a conspiracy orchestrated by Bangladesh-based Al-Qaida operatives in collaboration with the arrested individuals. The conspiracy was aimed at propagating Al-Qaida terrorist activities and radicalising gullible youths in India.
In November last year, NIA filed a chargesheet against five accused, including four Bangladeshi nationals, identified as Mohd Sojibmiyan, Munna Khalid Ansari alias Munna Khan, Azarul Islam alias Jahangir or Aakash Khan, Abdul Latif alias Mominul Ansari. The fifth accused, Farid, is an Indian national.
NIA investigations into their antecedents revealed that the accused had pro- cured forged documents to carry out their activities covertly.
"They were actively involved in radicalising and motivating vulnerable youths in India, spreading Al-Qaida's violent ideology, collecting funds, and transferring these funds to Al-Qaida," the official said.
-By A Correspondent