NIA arrests 'highly radicalised' ISIS operative Basit Kalam Siddiqui

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a highly radicalised ISIS operative after raiding two locations in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi on October 19.

During its searches, the NIA seized incriminating articles such as handwritten notes about making IEDs and explosive substances, mobile phones, laptops and pen drives.

As per officials at NIA, a highly radicalised ISIS operative identified as Basit Kalam Siddiqui (24) hailing from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested in a case related to a conspiracy by the proscribed terrorist organisation Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to radicalise and recruit youngsters to wage violent jihad against the Indian State by carrying out acts of terrorist violence.

Notably, the accused was in active touch with the operational handlers and indulged in content creation, publication and dissemination of the propaganda through a magazine 'Voice of Khurasan' and is said to be a "highly radicalised" operative of the ISIS 'Voice of Hind' module. 

Further, on the direction of his ISIS handlers in Afghanistan, Kalam Siddiqui was trying to fabricate an explosive 'black powder' and gain knowledge on the use of other lethal chemical substances used for the fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The NIA said he was also training on making explosives through several Telegram groups operated by him and for carrying out terrorist attacks against vital installations and the civilian population. 

"He was also preparing to undertake 'hijrat' (migration) to Khorasan (Afghanistan) for joining active ISIS terrorists in combat," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson at the NIA said that during the investigation, it was found that Siddiqui was actively involved in the radicalisation and recruitment of radicalised youth on behalf of ISIS from India. 

After the busting of the 'Voice of Hind' module by the NIA and the arrest of six people, including its so-called 'amir' (chief) of Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir Umar Nisar alias 'Qasim Khurasani', through a revised strategy, online propaganda was being pushed through a new online magazine 'Voice of Khorasan'. 

The NIA had earlier filed a main charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet in the NIA Special Court in Delhi in the case against the six arrested persons. 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered the case suo motu on June 29 last year under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.