A 19-year-old student of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) over alleged links with terrorist organisation ISIS.
Identified as Faizan Ansari alias Faiz, the student was arrested after raids were conducted by the NIA at his residence in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh as part of agency's crackdown on ISIS modules operating in the country.
The accused has been taken into the custody and a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code has been registered.
In a statement, the NIA said, "the conspiracy was aimed at carrying out violent terror attacks in India on behalf of ISIS."
Electronic devices, incriminating material seized from student's house, says NIA
The official of the NIA said the searches at Ansari’s house in Lohardaga district of Jharkhand and rented room in Aligarh, UP were conducted on July 16 and 17 and several electronic devices and incriminating material and documents were seized.
“Ansari had hatched a criminal conspiracy, along with his associates and other unknown individuals, through social media platforms to support ISIS activities in India and disseminate the outfit’s propaganda over various social media platforms. The conspiracy was aimed at carrying out violent terror attacks in India on behalf of ISIS,” the spokesperson said.
The official said the investigations have revealed that Ansari and his associates had pledged their allegiance to the ISIS, also known as Islamic State.
“Ansari was also active in the process of radicalizing neo-converts and attracting them to the terrorist fold for enriching the cadre base of ISIS in India.
He was in contact with foreign based ISIS handlers, who were guiding him on recruitments to the banned outfit.
“Along with other members of ISIS, he was planning violent actions and was contemplating doing ‘Hijrat’ (migration) to a ISIS conflict theatre abroad,” the spokesperson said.
The case was registered by the NIA on July 19 under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the official said, adding the agency will be progressing with its investigations to unravel all the facets of the international conspiracy.
With inputs from PTI
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