NIA charge sheets 18th accused; fresh charges filed against five in Bhopal's HuT terror case

New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has charge sheeted one accused and filed additional charges against five others in a 2023 Madhya Pradesh terror conspiracy case linked with the proscribed Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) terror organisation, the agency said on Friday.

The anti-terror agency has filed its first supplementary chargesheet in the case RC-15/2023/NIA/DLI before the NIA Special Court at Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh).

“With this, a total of 18 accused have so far been charge sheeted in the HuT conspiracy case. The original chargesheet was filed against 17 accused on November 4, 2023,” the NIA said in its press note.

The supplementary chargesheet filed on Friday has named Mohsin Khan alias Dawood, Mohammad Alam, Misbah-ul-Hasan, Yasir Khan, Syed Danish Ali and Mohammad Shahrukh for their involvement in a terrorist act involving the burning of a police officer’s car on the directives of their foreign handler.

“While Mohsin has been freshly charged under various sections of the UA (P) Act and IPC, additional provisions of the UA(P)Act and IPC have been invoked against the other five accused, who had been charged in the original chargesheet,” the agency said.

Notably, the case was originally registered in May 2023 by the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), Bhopal, “based on information that HuT members were clandestinely recruiting Muslim youth in Madhya Pradesh and other parts of India to overthrow the democratically elected government and establish a Sharia-based Caliphate.”

The agency further highlighted: “Secret meetings were organised in the guise of religious gatherings (Dars) to spread anti-democratic ideology, promote communal hatred, and indoctrinate youth into committing acts of violent jihad. The group also undertook physical training and combat-style exercises to prepare themselves for future violent acts, as per the investigation.”

NIA is continuing with its investigation into the larger conspiracy of HuT, and to track the absconding members, sympathisers and overseas handlers to dismantle the terror outfit’s anti-India organisational and financial structures.

--IANS

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