NIA files chargesheet against nine accused in online radicalisation case

The accused named in the chargesheet are Mohammad Rehmatullah Shariff, Mohammed Danish, Mirza Sohail Baig, Lucky Ahmad, Jishan Abdul Majid, Mir Ashif Ali, Abdul Salaam, Sharuk Khan and Shaikh Faiz ur Rehman.

According to the NIA, the chargesheet has been filed under different sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act before the Special NIA Court, Vijayawada.

The case pertains to an alleged conspiracy involving the online radicalisation of individuals by propagating the ideology of banned terrorist organisations ISIS (Islamic State) and AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent).

Meanwhile, a day earlier, in a major success in a seven-year-old case registered in 2019, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has secured life imprisonment for nine accused, including eight Bangladeshi nationals, linked to a syndicate of human trafficking.

The case pertains to a human trafficking network involved in trafficking Bangladeshi women into India by luring them with promises of lucrative employment and decent wages, and subsequently forcing them into prostitution.

A special NIA court in Hyderabad, in its order passed on September 17, convicted and sentenced the nine accused to life imprisonment in the case. The court also imposed a total fine of Rs 1,37,000 on the convicted accused, with a further sentence of three months' simple imprisonment in default of payment of the fine.

The original case was registered by Telangana Police at Pahadi Shareef Police Station in Hyderabad following an operation in September 2019 during which three Bangladeshi women were rescued from a brothel being operated at Jalpally village, and another woman was rescued from a house at Mahimood Colony, Balapur in Hyderabad.

The NIA took over the investigation and re-registered the case on October 12, 2019, as RC-03/2019/NIA/HYD.

During its investigation, the NIA found the involvement of the accused in the human trafficking network. The anti-terror agency subsequently filed a chargesheet against the accused on October 17, 2020. (ANI)