Prisons, designed for rehabilitation, are reportedly rising as breeding grounds for radicalisation and recruitment by terror teams. The current Nationwide Investigation Company (NIA) raids on prisons in southern states within the wake of the Rameshwram Cafe blast have uncovered alarming connections.
India At this time TV discovered a disconcerting sample the place petty criminals, sharing cells with terror suspects, endure radicalisation, in the end contributing to the planning of serious terror actions.
The nexus between small-time criminals and terrorism is clear in two current incidents.
Within the Mangaluru cooker blast case, Shareeq, initially arrested for a trivial offence in Shivamogga, discovered himself in Belagavi jail. There, he and his pal Arafat Ali encountered LeT member Afsar Pasha, an accused within the Hyderabad blast.
Shareeq and Ali had been inmates of Pasha. He efficiently radicalised the 2, turning them into sleeper cells able to execute anti-national actions. Arafat grew to become Shareeq’s handler.
In 2022, Zabi, who had been arrested by Shivamogga police in an tried homicide case, revealed how he, too, had fallen prey to Pasha’s radicalisation techniques.
Zabi revealed that he was arrested in one other case and was transferred to Belagavi Jail from Shivamogga as a part of a routine switch, the place he encountered Pasha.
Afterwards, Pasha launched Zabi to Shareeq, who grew to become Zabi’s handler. Shareeq then proceeded to coach him and some others in bomb-making, culminating of their involvement in a path blast in Theerthahalli.
The recruitment chain continued as Shareeq recruited Maaz Muneer, and each had been booked in a graffiti case in Mangaluru. Shareeq additionally introduced in in Syed Yasin, Nadeem Faizal, and Nadeem Ahmed. Shareeq served because the handler for this group, fostering a series of radicalisation. Maaz Muneer, in flip, recruited Mazin Abdul Rahman, Huzair Farhan Baig, and Reeshan Taijuddin Sheikh.
Shareeq and Maaz Muneer shared movies on making improvised explosive units (IEDs) and supplied radicalising content material to the recruits. In accordance with the chargesheet, these people additionally acquired on-line coaching from IS handlers.
The investigation has uncovered these intricate connections. There’s a chance that there may be many extra sleeper cells working on the behest of those accused. The NIA is actively pursuing this line of enquiry.
Case 2: Recruitment at Parappan Agrahara Bengaluru Jail
On July 19, 2023, Bengaluru Metropolis Police registered a case following the seizure of arms and ammunition, together with seven pistols, 4 hand grenades, one journal, and 45 reside rounds, together with 4 walkie-talkies. Initially, 5 people had been arrested, and subsequent investigations by the NIA revealed alarming ties to terrorist actions.
Initially, 5 individuals had been arrested, and their arrests subsequently led to the apprehension of another particular person, bringing the full variety of arrests within the case to 6. The Nationwide Investigation Company (NIA) took custody of all six accused after taking up the case on October 25, 2023.
The accused— Mohammed Umar, Mohammed Faisal Rabbani, Tanveer Ahmed, Mohammed Farooq, and Junaid Ahmed— had come into contact with T. Naseer, an LeT member and Bengaluru Serial blast accused, throughout their imprisonment at Central Jail, Parappana Agrahara, Bengaluru.
The investigation revealed that T. Naseer had efficiently radicalised and recruited them to hold out violent terror acts.
After their launch, the 5 accused, beneath the management of Junaid Ahmed and on the path of T. Naseer, conspired to commit terror acts.
Raids carried out at their premises resulted within the seizure of digital units, incriminating paperwork, and money amounting to Rs 7.3 lakh. Three accused, at the moment absconding, have been booked beneath varied sections of the IPC, UA(P) Act, 1967, and Explosive Substances Act, 1884.
Junaid Ahmed, beforehand absconding in a case associated to smuggling pink sandalwood in 2021, maintained common contact with different accused via encrypted communication platforms. He supplied funding for accumulating arms and ammunition.
What Karnataka authorities stated
On the problem of jail radicalisation, Karnataka Dwelling Minister G Parameshwara stated, “We can’t generalise that your entire jail system is polluted. There are cases and I do agree (there are) one or two individuals making an attempt to radicalise individuals. We catch them. In actual fact, our personal police have had a breakthrough and NIA can be going to totally different locations, and so they get some leads, and so they do the identical factor. We can’t generalise that the jail is a radicalisation institute.”
He emphasised that authorities, together with the jail SP and DG, are actively managing and investigating these issues on the floor stage.
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