New Delhi: A Special NIA Court in Delhi sentenced four operatives of the proscribed terrorist organisation Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), in connection with the ‘Voice of Hind’ terror conspiracy case, to varying jail terms ranging up to six years.
Umar Nisar alias Qasim Khurasani, Rameez Ahmad Lone and Tanveer Ahmad Bhat have each been sentenced to 6 Years of Rigorous Imprisonment, and Afshan Parvaiz Jarabi has been sentenced to 5 years of rigorous imprisonment, along with fines of Rs 36,000, Rs 31,000, Rs 23,000 and Rs 9,000, respectively, the NIA said.
The Special Court convicted the four accused on September 17. The Court found them guilty of criminal conspiracy and various offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the IPC relating to dissemination and propagation of ISIS material, radicalisation and recruitment of youth, and furthering the activities of the proscribed terrorist organisation.
The case (RC-14/2021/NIA/DLI) relates to a conspiracy hatched by ISIS to radicalise and recruit impressionable youth in India to wage violent jihad against the Indian State, the NIA said.
The ISIS terrorists operating from various conflict zones, along with ISIS cadres in India, created a network using pseudo online identities for dissemination of ISIS-related propaganda. The statement said on-ground terror financing activities supplemented the organised online campaign.
The NIA’s investigation revealed the involvement of cyber entities and their associates in creating, editing, publishing, and disseminating the India-centric ISIS propaganda magazine “Sawt-al-Hind (The Voice of Hind)” through online platforms, it said.
The network was also involved in motivating and facilitating Indians for so-called “hijrat” (migration) to ISIS conflict theatres in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas, it said.
During the investigation, voluminous incriminating documents and digital material, including PDFs of “Voice of Hind”, posters of slain terrorists, radicalising literature, web links to ISIS propaganda, an ISIS-flag T-shirt, chats and audio recordings relating to weapon procurement, media/ideological/psychological warfare material, and ISIS banners/flags were recovered and seized by NIA.
The Court found the specific involvement of the four convicts in furthering the activities of ISIS.
Umar was found involved in dissemination and propagation of ISIS material through the ‘Voice of Hind’ magazine, Telegram and other online channels for radicalising and recruiting youth.
Rameez and Tanveer were found involved in preaching ISIS ideology and radicalising and recruiting youth for the purpose of joining ISIS, and Afshan was found involved in publication and dissemination of articles for the ‘Voice of Hind’ magazine through Telegram channels and in propagating ISIS ideology and inviting youth to join ISIS, the NIA said.
The NIA filed the chargesheet and four supplementary chargesheets against eight accused persons. The investigation established the involvement of the accused persons in the activities of the ISIS ‘Voice of Hind’ module and their role in furthering the objectives of the proscribed terrorist organisation through online activities. The trial against the remaining accused persons is continuing, the statement said.
(IANS)
