News Analysis India

Tag: National Investigation Agency

  • Amravati killing: NIA team visits for probe into chemist’s murder; hunt for prime accused Irfan Khan on

    By PTI

    AMRAVATI: A team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) visited Amravati city in eastern Maharashtra on Saturday for probe into the killing of a chemist after it emerged that the crime might be linked to his social media posts supporting suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma.

    The chemist, Umesh Prahladrao Kolhe (54), was killed on June 21, and Maharashtra police have arrested five persons in connection with the incident.

    Earlier in the day, a Union Home Ministry spokesperson tweeted that the probe of the case has been handed over to the NIA.

    An NIA team has reached Amravati, said a senior police official in Mumbai.

    A team of Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of state police from Aurangabad is also visiting the city, said an official.

    Kolhe’s killing had taken place a week before two men hacked to death a tailor in Rajasthan’s Udaipur before posting videos online saying that they were avenging an insult to Islam.

    The NIA is also probing the killing of the Udaipur tailor, Kanhaiya Lal.

    As per state police, Kolhe was killed between 10 pm and 10.30 pm on June 21 when he was returning home on a two-wheeler after closing his shop.

    “Five persons have been arrested in connection with the murder and search is on to trace prime accused Irfan Khan (32), who runs an NGO,” Amravati commissioner of police Dr Aarti Singh had said earlier.

    “Kolhe ran a medical store. He had allegedly shared a post on some WhatsApp groups in support of Nupur Sharma for her comments (against Prophet Mohammad),” an official of the City Kotwali police station said.

    Khan allegedly hatched a conspiracy to kill Kolhe and roped in five others, promising to pay them Rs 10,000 and safe escape in a car after the killing, he said.

    Police arrested Muddsir Ahemad (22), Shahrukh Pathan (25), Abdul Thoufique (24) Shoaib Khan (22) and Atib Rashid (22), all residents of Amravati and daily wage workers.

    They also seized the knife used in the crime and obtained CCTV footage that captured the sequence of events.

    The BJP on June 5 suspended its national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and expelled Delhi BJP media head Navin Jindal after their alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad led to outrage in India and also in some Muslim countries.

  • NIA charges 11 for supplying arms to terrorists, gangs in Jharkhand

    By IANS

    NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) said they have filed a charge sheet against 11 persons in a case of pilferage of arms and ammunition and supply to terrorist organisations in Jharkhand.

    The charge sheet was filed before the special NIA court under various sections of IPC, Arms Act and UAP Act for their involvement in supply of arms and ammunition to terrorist organisations and gangs.

    “Avinash Kumar alias Chunnu Sharma, Rishi Kumar, Pankaj Kumar Singh, Kamendra Singh, Arun Kumar Singh alias Fauji, Hirla Guman Singh Ucchware, Shivlal Dhawal Singh Chauhan, Kumar Gurlal Uchchware, Kartik Behra, Aman Sahu alias Aman Sao, Sanjay Kumar alias Sanjay Kumar Singh, have been chargesheeted,” said the NIA official.

    The case pertains to pilferage of arms and ammunitions and supply of the same to the armed cadres of CPI(Maoist) and terrorist gang of Aman Sahu by the accused persons who had criminally conspired to use these arms and ammunition in executing terrorist attacks on the security forces and also for the purpose of extortion. The case was originally registered at PS ATS, Ranchi in 2021 and later on the probe was taken over by the NIA.

    The investigation has established that ammunition of various caliber were pilfered from a magazine of the BSF by one accused Kartik Behera and supplied to his close associate Arun Kumar Singh. Further, the same were supplied to the armed cadres of CPI(Maoist) and the terrorist gang of Aman Sahu in association with some of the other chargesheeted accused persons. Four chargesheeted accused in the case were also found involved in the procurement and transfer of illegal firearms. Due to the involvement of accused Kartik Behera in pilferage and supply of ammunition, he was dismissed from the BSF.

    Further investigation in the matter is still on.

  • NIA to open office in MP to investigate terror activities: Minister

    In March this year, the MP police had arrested four alleged members of the banned JMB from Bhopal and seized Jihadi literature and electronic devices from their possession.

  • Elgar Parishad case: Activist Anand Teltumbde moves discharge application

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Activist Anand Teltumbde, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, on Thursday moved a discharge application before the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here, stating that the probe agency has not produced any material to show that he is a member of CPI (Maoist) or his alleged role in the case.

    Teltumbde (70) was arrested in April 2020 for his alleged links to the Elgar Parishad case and has been lodged in Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.

    The activist, through his lawyers Sathyanarayanan and Neeraj Yadav, filed a discharge application before special NIA judge D E Kothalikar.

    According to the plea, the NIA has alleged that Teltumbde and seven others are members of CPI (Maoist) and were deeply involved in the furtherance of the banned organisation’s agenda through different means.

    CPI (Maoists) believe that the Indian state is being run by a collaboration of imperialist, comprador and bourgeoisie and feudal lords, and the eventual objective is to establish Janta Sarkar through revolution submitted by a commitment to protracted arms struggle to undermine and seize power from the state.

    Teltumbde, in his application, claimed that the NIA has not produced any material before the court to show that he is a member of CPI (Maoist).

    Responding to the allegation by the probe agency that he along with other activists took part in the programme organised under the banner of Elgar Parishad, Teltumbde claimed that except for an “omnibus statement”, there is no material in the chargesheet to fortify the charge.

    The probe agency has alleged that the accused is a senior member of CPI (Maoist) and was in contact with other arrested accused.

    He was the general secretary of the CPDR and a member of the Anuradha Ghandy Memorial committee (AGMC), which are the frontal organisations of CPI (Maoist).

    Teltumbe claimed that the prosecution has not brought on record any material to show that the CPDR is a frontal organisation of CPI (Maoist), and the evidence collected during the investigation would in fact show that there is no link between the two organisations.

    The activist further refuted the NIA’s allegation that his role in connection with the Bhima Koregaon programme was appreciated by CPI (Maoist) and there is evidence of an allocation of Rs 10 lakh to him by the banned organisation for his international campaign and visits for furthering its agenda.

    The prosecution, in a list of documents, has rolled out several correspondences, allegedly exchanged between various accused.

    However, there is nothing in them to decipher that Teltumbde’s role in connection with Bhima Koregaon was appreciated, the discharge application stated.

    Praying for discharge from the case, Teltumbde has said that the court cannot “act merely as a post office or a mouthpiece” of the prosecution, but has to consider the broad probabilities of the case, total effect of the evidence and documents produced before the court, any basic infirmities, etc.

    At the time of framing of the charges, the probative value of the material on record cannot be gone into, but before framing a charge, the court must apply its judicial mind to the material placed on record and must be satisfied that the commission of offence by the accused was possible, the plea said.

    Besides Teltumbe, other accused Sudhir Dawale and Mahesh Raut also sought discharge from the case.

    Meanwhile, the NIA on Thursday filed its reply to the discharge application of artist and singer Jyoti Jagtap.

    The probe agency has claimed that there was adequate grounds and sufficient material evidence on record to sustain the charge against the accused.

    ALSO READ | Bhima Koregaon case: Bombay High Court allows Anand Teltumbde to meet his mother 

    It is submitted that the averments made in the grounds seeking discharge of the applicant are not cogent and valid grounds as such present application is devoid of merit and liable to be dismissed, the NIA said.

    The case relates to alleged inflammatory speeches delivered at the ‘Elgar Parishad’ conclave, held at Shaniwarwada in Pune on December 31, 2017, which the police claimed triggered violence the next day near the Koregaon-Bhima war memorial located on the city’s outskirts.

    The Pune police had claimed the conclave was backed by Maoists.

    The probe in the case, in which more than a dozen activists and academicians have been named as accused, was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency.

    The court will hear the matter on May 4.

  • NIA files chargesheet against three ISIS recruiters

    By PTI

    BENGALURU: The NIA on Saturday filed a supplementary chargesheet before a special court here against three people for their alleged involvement in radicalising and recruiting gullible Muslim youth into the ISIS terrorist group.

    They also raised and received funds to finance the visit of the radicalised youths to Syria, a spokesperson of the National Investigation Agency said.

    Muhammad Tauqir Mahmood and Zohaib Manna of Bengaluru, and Mohammed Shihab of Bhatkal in Karnataka have been charged under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the spokesperson said.

    The case was registered by the NIA in September 2020 after examination of Dr Abdur Rahman in a case of the Islamic State Khorasan Province which led to unravelling of an ISIS module, the official said.

    During this, names of various people responsible for radicalising and funding the visits of Muslim youth from Bengaluru and Karnataka to ISIS areas such as Syria, had emerged, the spokesperson said.

    The NIA had earlier filed a chargesheet against two accused in the case.

    Mahmood and Manna were involved in radicalising and recruiting gullible Muslim youth into the fold of the ISIS through a “Quran Circle” group, according to the spokesperson.

    They were also involved in raising and receiving funds to finance the visit of radicalised Muslim youth to Syria, the NIA official said.

    Mahmood and Shihab had earlier visited Syria illegally to establish connection with ISIS terrorists, the spokesperson said, adding that further investigation in the case continues.

  • NIA files charge sheet against arrested Pakistani terrorist

    By PTI

    JAMMU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday filed a charge sheet in a court here against a Pakistani terrorist affiliated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET) who was arrested during an infiltration attempt in Uri sector in September last year, an official said.

    The charge sheet was filed against Imdadullah, hailing from Pakistan’s Punjab province, under various sections of the IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosives Act and the Foreigners Act, a spokesperson of the NIA said.

    Imdadullah who had several code names such as ‘Ali Babar’, ‘Dujana’ and ‘313’ was arrested, while his associate Atiq-ur-Rehman alias “Qari Anas and Abu Anas” was killed by the Army when they made a failed infiltration attempt from across the border in Uri sector of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on September 27 last year.

    The spokesperson said the case was initially registered at police station Uri on September 27 and later re-registered by the NIA on October 30, 2021.

    A huge cache of arms, ammunition, explosives and other incriminating material were recovered from the possession of the slain and arrested Pakistani terrorists, the NIA said, adding further investigation in the case was underway.

  • Malegaon blast: Another witness turns hostile, says ATS forced him to name RSS leaders

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Another witness in the 2008 Malegaon blast case told the trial court here on Thursday that the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) tortured and forced him to name RSS leaders during the probe.

    As the witness denied having given a voluntary statement to the ATS, Judge P R Sitre of the special court for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases declared him hostile.

    Of 222 prosecution witnesses examined in the case so far, 17 have turned hostile (refused to support the prosecution case).

    The witness told the court on Thursday that the ATS, which had probed the case initially, took him in custody multiple times and he was tortured.

    ATS officials forced him to name the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its leaders, he alleged.

    He was not an RSS member, nor did he know the name of any RSS functionary, the witness said.

    Earlier, another prosecution witness had told the court that the ATS forced him to name Yogi Adityanath (now Uttar Pradesh chief minister) and four RSS leaders.

    On September 29, 2008, six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a communally sensitive town in north Maharashtra’s Nashik district.

    The accused in the case include BJP MP from Bhopal Pragya Singh Thakur, Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Sudhakar Diwedi, Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired), Ajay Rahirkar, Sudhakar Dwivedi, Sudhakar Chaturvedi and Sameer Kulkarni.

    All of them are out on bail.

  • NIA announces Rs 4 lakh-8 lakh award for information on attack on Assam Rifles convoy

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday announced rewards ranging from Rs 4 lakh to 8 lakh for “information of importance” on insurgents involved in the attack that killed an Assam Rifles colonel and his family in Manipur last November.

    The 10 insurgents allegedly involved in the November 13, 2021 attack belong to the banned People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Manipur Naga People’s Front (MNPF).

    A spokesperson of the NIA said any person with “information of importance” on the suspects leading to their arrest or apprehension will be rewarded.

    On November 13 last year, PLA and MNPF insurgents attacked a convoy with arms and explosives near Sialsih village on the India-Myanmar road under the Singngat Police Station of Manipur’s Churachandpur district.

    The attack resulted in death of five Assam Rifles personnel, including its Commanding Officer Colonel Viplav Tripathi, his wife and son.

    Those wanted for the incident include self styled Lt Col Chaoyai and Lt Col Sagolsem Inaocha.

  • J-K terrorism case: Delhi HC seeks three terror suspects’ response on NIA plea

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has sought three terror suspects’ response on the plea of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) challenging trial court order rejecting the extension of police custody of accused in the Jammu and Kashmir terrorism case.

    The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the three suspects, arrested in connection with a case relating to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, to file a response on the NIA’s plea challenging a trial court order which rejected the application filed by the probe agency earlier seeking further extension of police custody of three accused.

    Justice Rajnish Bhatnagar asked three accused Owais Ahmad Dar, Arif Farooq Bhat, and Kamran Ashraf Reshi to file a response on the NIA’s plea and listed the matter for February 2.

    Police custody for the three accused persons – Owais Ahmad Dar, Arif Farooq Bhat, and Kamran Ashraf Reshi, was sought by NIA for confronting the accused persons with their social media and phone data to unearth the larger conspiracy.

    The NIA had apprised the Delhi High Court that the data from the electronic devices of accused persons is often not received in time from CERT-In and CFSL, as a result of which confronting the accused with all relevant evidence is not possible within the first 30 days, especially in cases of large and complex international conspiracies.

    According to the NIA petition, on November 27, Patiala House Court’s Principal District and Sessions Judge has rejected the application filed by NIA, seeking police custody in respect of certain accused persons on the ground under the second provision in Section 43D(2)(b) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA). The accused was on police remand and 30 days from the first remand have been expired.

    “Indisputably, the police custody in respect of each of the accused persons has been granted for a period less than the maximum period of 30 days as permitted by the UAPA,” the NIA said in its petition.

    The NIA submitted that the order is contrary to the legislative intent of Section 43D(2)(b) the UAPA which unequivocally allows the police to seek remand of the accused of the purposes of investigation, till the upper limit of 30 days is reached with intervals in between till the time accused remains in custody in terms of the provision.

    “The impugned order is also contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court in Maulavi Hussein Haji Abraham Umarji v. the State of Gujarat, (2004) 6 SCC 672 in the context of Section 49(2)(b) of Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (“POTA”) which is ‘pari materia’ to Section 43D(2)(b) where the Supreme Court rejected the conclusion of the Single Judge,” the NIA said.

    The NIA also said in its petition that the present case has arisen in the backdrop of the recent spurt in terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. A complaint was registered by the NIA on October 10 pertaining to a large-scale conspiracy funded and controlled by international terror groups and their affiliates in India to spread terror in Jammu and Kashmir.

    Therefore, the NIA has sought to quash the order dated November 27 passed by the trial court.

  • NIA registers case against Jaswinder Singh Multani linked to Sikhs for Justice

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case against Jaswinder Singh Multani, an alleged operative of the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) who has been detained in Germany, for hatching a criminal conspiracy to wage war against India and attempting to revive terrorism in Punjab on Friday.

    The agency said, “The case relates to a criminal conspiracy hatched by Multani with several other pro-Khalistani elements located abroad for radicalising, motivating and recruiting youngsters in Punjab, on the ground and online through social media platforms, to propagate their ideology with an aim to secede Punjab from the Union of India.”

    As per the NIA, “They have been involved in raising funds to procure arms, ammunition and explosives by using smuggling networks in Punjab to revive terrorism in the state, the officials said, adding that Multani has also been in contact with ISI operatives for carrying out terror attacks in Mumbai and other parts of the country.”

    According to the officials, the case has been initiated under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including those related to waging war against the country, and the relevant provisions of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

    Multani is suspected to be linked to the Ludhiana court complex blast last week. Apart from it, earlier this year, the Punjab police registered two cases against Multani and others.

    The registration of the case would help the government take requisite action in accordance with law for expeditious investigation so that Multani could either be deported or extradited to India, the officials said.