The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has conducted searches in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the Bhopal terror funding case involving the proscribed organisation, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh(JMB).
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The agency said the searches were aimed at exposing further links and conspiracies of the 10 already-arrested- accused who have been chargesheeted in the case. Six of them are Bangladeshi nationals and active JMB cadre. “They had entered India illegally without any valid documents, and had acquired false or forged Indian identity documents with the help of their sympathisers in India,” it said.
The searches on the premises of the suspects led to the seizure of several mobile phones, SIM cards, bank passbooks and identity documents. The papers, currently under examination, are related to the suspect transactions involving transfer of funds by the accused.
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“The NIA investigations have revealed that all the 10 arrested-accused 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. They had been circulating incriminating jihadi literature, inflammatory videos, and statements... and endorsing, justifying and glorifying the terrorist acts of the various banned terrorist organisations, including JMB, Al-Qaeda and the Taliban,” said the agency in its statement.
The accused were conspiring to align with terrorist organisations and create a pan-India network to pursue their objective. Along with their co-accused, they had successfully established bases in various States, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura, West Bengal and Assam.
The NIA had registered the case on April 5, 2022, under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Foreigners Act. It was initially registered by the Bhopal Special Task Force on March 14, 2022, following the arrest of six JMB terrorists from their rented house.