The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charges against seven individuals involved in the Ballari ISIS module under multiple laws including the IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UA(P)A), Arms Act, and Explosive Substances Act. The accused, arrested earlier by the NIA, have been charged with recruiting and radicalizing vulnerable youth as mujahideen to function as terrorist sleeper cells, according to a release from the agency on Thursday.
The NIA’s investigation revealed that the accused were part of a larger ISIS conspiracy to establish 50 sleeper cells in each Indian district by 2025. They were also involved in fabricating explosives to further ISIS’s goal of establishing a Caliphate in India through jihad against the government. The Ballari module was inspired by ISIS’s separatist and violent ideology, aiming to conduct guerrilla attacks on Indian soldiers, police, and religious leaders using improvised explosive devices.
During the investigation, the NIA seized explosive materials, sharp-edged weapons, digital devices containing jihad propaganda, and several incriminating documents related to the ISIS roadmap for establishing Islamic rule in India. The accused had conducted a trial blast in Bellary, Karnataka, and shared jihad-related digital content with other vulnerable youth.
The chargesheet identifies the accused as Mohammed Muniruddin, Syed Sameer, Md Muzammil from Karnataka, Anas Iqbal Shaikh from Maharashtra, Mohd Shahbaz alias Zulfikar from Jharkhand, and Shayan Rehman alias Hussain from Delhi. They had taken a pledge of allegiance (bayath) from co-accused Md Sulaiman alias Minaj, who proclaimed himself as Amir of the group.
Further investigations are ongoing to uncover the complete conspiracy and identify other individuals involved.
