NIA Chargesheets Five, Including Woman, In Gujarat AQIS Online Radicalisation Case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against five people, including a woman, in a Gujarat case linked to the alleged online radicalisation of vulnerable youth by the banned terror organisation Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), according to PTI.

The charge sheet has been submitted before a special NIA court in Ahmedabad against Mohammad Fardeen, Kureshi Sefulla, Mohammad Faique, Zeeshan Ali and Shama Parveen, officials said. The case pertains to the use of social media platforms to propagate and support AQIS ideology and activities, PTI reported.

According to the NIA, the investigation revealed that the accused used various social media accounts to post videos, audio clips and photographs containing provocative material aimed at disseminating anti-India narratives linked to AQIS. The agency alleged that these posts included calls for armed revolt against the democratically elected Indian government and for the establishment of a Caliphate based on Sharia law.

The probe agency further stated that the accused also promoted the extremist ideologies of other proscribed terrorist organisations with the objective of radicalising gullible youth, reported PTI.

The NIA had taken over the case from the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). During the course of the investigation, it seized several incriminating materials in both digital and paper formats. The agency also recovered weapons, including a semi-automatic pistol with cartridges and a sword, from two of the accused.

According to the NIA, investigators traced digital footprints and identified incriminating online posts that strengthened the evidence against the accused.

The agency said Shama Parveen, a resident of Bengaluru, Karnataka, propagated AQIS videos through her social media accounts and actively participated in extremist online groups that promoted radical content after the Pahalgam Attack and Operation Sindoor. She was allegedly in regular contact with a Pakistani national, Sumer Ali, with whom she shared screenshots and discussed banned literature and operations.

Her mobile phone, the NIA said, contained incriminating books authored by extremist ideologues, videos and Pakistani contact numbers, all of which were recovered during the investigation.

According to NIA findings, Mohammad Faique, a resident of Old Delhi, played a key role in the conspiracy by sharing “radical posts and inciting content on Jihad, Ghazwa- e-Hind, and violence against a section of society”. The agency said he circulated excerpts from extremist literature promoting the ideology of AQIS and Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) through his Instagram account and via a group created specifically for this purpose.

He also collaborated and conspired with the other accused to spread violent ideology and content more widely, the NIA alleged.

The remaining accused, Sheikh Mohammad Fardeen from Ahmedabad, Kureshi Sefulla from Modasa in Gujarat, and Zeeshan Ali from Noida in Uttar Pradesh, were found to have actively engaged in promoting radical content in the form of audio, video and other posts linked to banned terror outfits, the agency said.

They regularly liked, commented on and collaborated on posts inciting Jihad, Gazwa-E-Hind and rebellion against the democratically elected Indian government, and advocated Khilafat and Sharia law, the NIA added, according to PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)