Chargesheet filed against Islamic State recruits

Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Friday filed a chargesheet against four Parbhani residents who were arrested in July on accusations that they were operatives and recruiters for the banned trans-national terror organisation, Islamic State (IS). ATS sources revealed that the chargesheet contained electronic evidence, including intercepted telephonic conversations and chats on encrypted messaging services, revealing their plans to target specific sites in the state with IS operatives.

The chargesheet spanning 3,632 pages was filed in a Nanded court on Friday and would be submitted to a special court in Aurangabad on Monday. It was filed against four accused people — Naserbin Chaus (34), Iqbal Ahmed (28), Shahid Khan (24) and Raeesuddin Siddiqui (37). All four of them hail from Parbhani and were allegedly roped in by Chaus, who was in touch with an IS operative identified only as Farookh, said to be based in Syria. A senior ATS official revealed that the chargesheet also named Farookh, mentioning him as a “wanted accused”.

The case had come to light after the ATS first arrested Chaus, a civil contractor by profession. Chaus, who had been drawn in by the IS ideology, had allegedly contacted Farookh and expressed an interest in moving to Syria and joining the terror movement. Investigations revealed Farookh had asked Chaus to stay back in India and plan “an attack”. He had then allegedly recruited Shahid, Ahmed and Siddiqui.

The Asian Age had reported on July 28 the arrested accused were planning an attack on Shia structures in the Marathwada region during Ramzan, with an aim to wreak havoc between communities. The police raids at their homes had led to the seizure of explosives and a remote-activated device, all allegedly built by Shahid.

Sources in the ATS revealed that the chargesheet contained not just the statements of family members of those arrested, but also reports from forensic experts, explosives experts and call data records of their mobile phones. “We have also been able to recover data from their computers, which contain crucial pieces of evidence,” said a senior ATS official. He added: “The data from their computers includes their conversations with Farookh and all the material — including tutorials in the form of videos and books — that he sent them. They would also send him progress reports and we have attached all the electronic data findings in the form of CDs in the chargesheet.”

ATS officials revealed the chargesheet contained the statements of friends and colleagues and also details of the change in the behaviour of the accused.

“We traced their movements from the time they initiated contact with Farookh, and have included details of the places they visited and the activities they undertook over the past few months. All of it shows how they became reticent and reclusive, and reveals instances where their radical mindset was at the fore,” said an official.