48 Suspects Detained After NIA Raids Across India; 'Something Big' Was In The Works As Response To 'Blasphemy'

The National Investigation Agency raided 13 spots across seven states and detained 48 suspects over the weekend.

Local Assets Spreading ISIS Propaganda Caught

As per reports, the NIA’s investigation foiled the plans for ‘something big’ against India, in the aftermath of the 'blasphemy' controversy.

The NIA is reported to have closely monitored the ISIS propaganda magazine, Voice of Hind. It was observed that the commentary in the magazine carried detailed material which would not have been possible without local ground support.

According to this report, leads for the current round of detentions were received from the interrogation Zufri Johar Damodi. Damodi was arrested from Karnataka in August 2021 for his links with the IS.

Those detained have connections to the Islamic State – Khorasan Province (ISKP).

NIA Searches and Detentions

On Sunday, the NIA detained a student hailing from Karnataka and staying at a madrassa in Deoband, Saharanpur. According to the sources, Farukh is adept in many languages and was allegedly in touch with a module of the ISI via a social media app.

On June 23, the agency arrested a Rohingya student, Mujibullah, from Deoband.

NIA had conducted searches at Bhopal and Silwani in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, in connection with the ISIS module and Bihar's Phulwari Sharif cases on July 31. The searches led to the seizure of incriminating documents and material.

“The Central agencies had taken two suspects, identified as Mohammed Anas and Mohammed Jubair, for interrogation. The agency prepared clones of their mobile phones and laptops. These men were allegedly involved in creating groups in the name of ISIS on Telegram,' MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra Mishra had told reporters.

The searches were carried out in Bharuch, Surat, Navsari and Ahmedabad districts in Gujarat and in Nanded and Kolhapur in Maharashtra. Incriminating documents/material were recovered during the action.

As per the agency, these local assets were used being used to instigate Muslims through digital platforms.

The Voice of Hind had spoken about the hijab issue in Karnataka, Citizenship Amendment Act and other internal matters of India, with an aim to create a sense of victimhood among the Muslims and plan deadly attacks.

(with inputs from PTI)