Lack of evidence gets clean chit for Daesh’s India chief
Failure to establish clear link between Mudabbir Shaikh — considered chief of the Indian wing of Daesh — and the Malwani men, forced NIA to leave him out of chargesheet.
According to the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against four accused of having ties with Daesh, it has emerged that Mudabbir Shaikh – key accused in a separate case and considered to be the head of the Indian module of the terror outfit – has been given a clean chit.
Mudabbir was earlier shown as an absconding in this case but was arrested in January in a joint operation by the NIA and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for having links to Daesh and taken to New Delhi later regarding a separate case.
Ayaz went missing from his residence in October last year, and Mohsin had disappeared along with two other youths in December. While Ayaz was later confirmed to have reached Iraq through Afghanistan, Mohsin and Rizwan were arrested from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh respectively earlier this year.
The 6,000-page chargesheet filed last week indicted the four accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, and stated that investigations had established that the four accused hatched a conspiracy from July to December 2015 to “influence, instigate, motivate and radicalise the young vulnerable Muslim youth from Malwani to join the IS” (using another abbreviation for Daesh).
Two youths, who allegedly went for training to Kashmir and later to Syria to join Daesh, but came back to their families, have been cited as two of the 228 witnesses in the case.
Failure to link Mudabbir with malwani men
Though the chargesheet says that Rizwan had met Mudabbir in August 2015, it is not able to connect him to the Malwani case. “There is no clear and direct involvement of Mudabbir Mushtaq Shaikh in the Malwani conspiracy and, as such, he is not chargesheeted in this case,” the chargesheet reads.
The chargesheet says that Mudabbir proceeded to Deoband in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh in September 2015 to meet like-minded persons for discussing the organisational set up of an Indian body named as Jundul Khilafa Al Hind (JKAH), having affiliation to Daesh. The chargesheet referred to Mudabbir the Ameer-E-Hind of JKAH.
Extent of radicalisation
Spelling out the extent of radicalisation the accused exhibited, the chargesheet says that absconding accused Ayaz Sultan claimed that the world should celebrate Eid on the same day as Saudi Arabia “to follow a puritan form of Islam.” The chargesheet alleged that a group of Muslim youth celebrated Ramzan Eid in Malwani a day before it was declared in India last year since that is when Saudi Arabia celebrated Eid.
Ayaz wanted to kill foreigners on new year’s eve
Frustrated that his family was not allowing him to go abroad to wage jihad by confiscating all his travel documents, Ayaz told his circle that he would complete his calling here itself and kill foreigners on New Year’s Eve and then send pictures of the same to Daesh in Syria.
The chargesheet says that Ayaz decided to join Daesh himself along with his immediate family when he failed to send adequate number of people to Syria. At this point, two others, including Mohsin, had already formed a group.
Ayaz was expecting to get documents for his visa to Pakistan from his father who was there. But once his mother figured out his plans, she instructed his father in Pakistan to not send any of his documents. Ayaz returned dejected from New Delhi without a visa. His mother went a step further and confiscated his passport once he returned.
An uncle who was down for Bakri Eid had also tried to dissuade him, but according to the witness, Ayaz remained steadfast.
“Ayaz became frustrated that his plan to go to Syria, Sudan and then Pakistan was cancelled.” The witness recalled how one day the three of them were sitting and Mohsin and Ayaz discussed, “Hijarat nahi ho parahi, to jaha pai ho vahi hatyar uthao”.
According to the statement of another witness, who went till Chennai but returned, the men didn’t even have money to realize their Jihad dreams. One of them in Malwani sold a relative’s gold chain worth Rs18,000 to get money for the journey to Syria.
According to the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against four accused of having ties with Daesh, it has emerged that Mudabbir Shaikh – key accused in a separate case and considered to be the head of the Indian module of the terror outfit – has been given a clean chit.
Mudabbir was earlier shown as an absconding in this case but was arrested in January in a joint operation by the NIA and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for having links to Daesh and taken to New Delhi later regarding a separate case.
The accused quartet includes Shafi Armar, a Bhatkal native believed to have been a handler and also thought to have died in Syria; Ayaz Sultan, who is absconding; Mohsin Sayyed from Malwani in Mumbai and Rizwan Ahmed from Uttar Pradesh.
Ayaz went missing from his residence in October last year, and Mohsin had disappeared along with two other youths in December. While Ayaz was later confirmed to have reached Iraq through Afghanistan, Mohsin and Rizwan were arrested from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh respectively earlier this year.
The 6,000-page chargesheet filed last week indicted the four accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, and stated that investigations had established that the four accused hatched a conspiracy from July to December 2015 to “influence, instigate, motivate and radicalise the young vulnerable Muslim youth from Malwani to join the IS” (using another abbreviation for Daesh).
Two youths, who allegedly went for training to Kashmir and later to Syria to join Daesh, but came back to their families, have been cited as two of the 228 witnesses in the case.
Failure to link Mudabbir with malwani men
Though the chargesheet says that Rizwan had met Mudabbir in August 2015, it is not able to connect him to the Malwani case. “There is no clear and direct involvement of Mudabbir Mushtaq Shaikh in the Malwani conspiracy and, as such, he is not chargesheeted in this case,” the chargesheet reads.
The chargesheet says that Mudabbir proceeded to Deoband in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh in September 2015 to meet like-minded persons for discussing the organisational set up of an Indian body named as Jundul Khilafa Al Hind (JKAH), having affiliation to Daesh. The chargesheet referred to Mudabbir the Ameer-E-Hind of JKAH.
Extent of radicalisation
Spelling out the extent of radicalisation the accused exhibited, the chargesheet says that absconding accused Ayaz Sultan claimed that the world should celebrate Eid on the same day as Saudi Arabia “to follow a puritan form of Islam.” The chargesheet alleged that a group of Muslim youth celebrated Ramzan Eid in Malwani a day before it was declared in India last year since that is when Saudi Arabia celebrated Eid.
Ayaz wanted to kill foreigners on new year’s eve
Frustrated that his family was not allowing him to go abroad to wage jihad by confiscating all his travel documents, Ayaz told his circle that he would complete his calling here itself and kill foreigners on New Year’s Eve and then send pictures of the same to Daesh in Syria.
The chargesheet says that Ayaz decided to join Daesh himself along with his immediate family when he failed to send adequate number of people to Syria. At this point, two others, including Mohsin, had already formed a group.
Ayaz was expecting to get documents for his visa to Pakistan from his father who was there. But once his mother figured out his plans, she instructed his father in Pakistan to not send any of his documents. Ayaz returned dejected from New Delhi without a visa. His mother went a step further and confiscated his passport once he returned.
An uncle who was down for Bakri Eid had also tried to dissuade him, but according to the witness, Ayaz remained steadfast.
“Ayaz became frustrated that his plan to go to Syria, Sudan and then Pakistan was cancelled.” The witness recalled how one day the three of them were sitting and Mohsin and Ayaz discussed, “Hijarat nahi ho parahi, to jaha pai ho vahi hatyar uthao”.
According to the statement of another witness, who went till Chennai but returned, the men didn’t even have money to realize their Jihad dreams. One of them in Malwani sold a relative’s gold chain worth Rs18,000 to get money for the journey to Syria.
