The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted searches in three States – Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat – in an ongoing investigation into the ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ alleged terror module that was busted in Bihar last year.
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According to the agency officials, raids and searches were carried out at the houses of eight suspects in Maharashtra’s Nagpur (four locations), one location each in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat’s Valsad, Surat and Botad districts, and incriminating materials, including digital devices (mobile phones, memory cards) and documents were seized.
In Nagpur, searches started at 5 a.m. in Sataranjipura, Gawalipura and Wathoda areas. Three persons were questioned and served notices by the NIA to join the probe. The mobile phone of one of these persons, who is a resident of Sataranjipura, has been confiscated.
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In July 2022, a case was registered in Bihar’s Phulwarisharif police station against members of the ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ module, which was being operated and controlled from Pakistan. Marghoob Ahmad Danish alias Tahir, admin of a WhatsApp group ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’, launched by a Pakistani national, was arrested in the case.
“Danish created ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ groups on different social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Telegram and BiP Messenger. He had also created a dedicated WhatsApp group for Bangladeshi nationals, with the title -‘BDGhazwa E HindBD’,” NIA officials said.
He had added many persons from India as well as from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Yemen to these groups. The agency officials said that the module aimed to radicalise impressionable Indian youth with the ultimate objective of the conquest of India-‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’.
“Members of this group were being radicalised to convert them into ‘sleeper cells’ for carrying out terrorist activities,” they said, adding that a chargesheet was filed against Danish in January and a probe is on.