NIA raids at 5 places in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, notices issued to 2 people, electronic devices seizedNews WAALI

The agency said the name of another accused, Abdullah Basit, who was already lodged in Tihar Jail in another case, has also surfaced. On the same day, the NIA conducted searches in Islamic State-Khorasan (ISKP) and three other locations in Seoni in the Shiv Moga case. The places searched include the residential and business properties of the suspects Abdul Aziz Salafi and Shoaib Khan. In the Shiv Moga case, as part of a conspiracy hatched from abroad, the accused Muhammad Shariq, Muaz Munir Khan, Yasin and others targeted government and private properties like godowns, liquor shops on the instructions of their handlers located abroad. Hardware stores, vehicles and other property belonging to a particular community were torched and more than 25 events were carried out.

According to the agency, these people have allegedly been accused of detonating fake IEDs. The NIA says they are being funded with digital currency by an online handler for the plot. As part of the larger conspiracy, accused Muhammad Shariq had planned to detonate an IED at the Kadri temple in Mangalore on November 19 last year. However, the IED exploded prematurely in an accident. Abdul Salafi Seoni, 40, is an imam at the Jamia Masjid, while Shoaib, 26, sells car spare parts.

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Salafis, together with their ally Shoaib, were found propagating messages such as ‘Voting in elections is a sin for Muslims’. Led by Maulana Aziz Salafi, the group was trying to incite Muslim youth in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and several southern states through inflammatory and inflammatory speeches on YouTube. “They were also trying to gather similar people in the Seoni area.”

False propaganda from social media

The counter-terrorism agency said they use social media platforms to spread such false propaganda to vulnerable youth. Promoting such efforts, the NIA said Aziz Salafi was also in touch with the arrested accused from Karnataka, Major Munir Ahmed, who procured explosives for the test blasts. Moaz was arrested by the NIA in November last year. The NIA said that the investigation is underway to find out the entire conspiracy involving the accused.

Published by:Mirzaghani Baig

First published:March 12, 2023, 22:54 IST