NIA files charge sheet against two alleged IS operatives in Karnataka

National Investigation Agency NIA has filed a charge sheet against two alleged Islamic State operatives who were found involved in over two dozen incidents of arson and sabotage including burning of the national flag in Karnataka an official said FridayMaaz Muneer Ahmad 23 and Syed Yasin 22 of Shivamogga have been charged in a special court under various sections of the Indian Penal Code Unlawful Activities Prevention Act Explosive Substances Act and Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act a spokesperson of the federal agency saidThe official said the case relates to a conspiracy hatched to further the activities of the banned Islamic State terror group by carrying out acts of arson sabotage and violence in Karnataka Further investigations against six other arrested accused are in progressThe NIA took over the case in September last year after it was initially registered by the Karnataka Police after Prem Singh was at Shivamogga on August 15 allegedly by accused Zabiulla and othersAhmad and Yasin both B Tech graduates had been radicalised and motivated by an online foreignbased handler to target public and private properties including warehouses liquor outlets hardware shops vehicles and properties belonging to citizens belonging to a particular community In furtherance of a conspiracy hatched by the Islamic State they had committed over 25 incidents of arson and sabotage the spokesperson saidThe NIA said the level of their commitment is evident from their activitiesBoth of them went to Agumbe and Varahi river backwaters forest area of Shivamogga district for trekking and recce for hideouts They procured explosives and prepared to fabricate an IED Yasin conducted a trial explosion of one of the IEDs at the Varahi river bank in Shivamogga He also burnt a national flag and recorded a video to establish his antiIndia credentials the spokesperson saidAlso readMaharashtra Strike for Old Pension Scheme may delay evaluation of state board examsThe official said the two terror operatives were being paid in cryptocurrencies by their online handler by fund transfers from abroadInvestigations have revealed that Ahmad received crypto equivalent to around Rs 15 lakh from the online handler into accounts of his friends whereas Yasin received Rs 62 K into the account of a friend the spokesperson saidAs part of the larger IS conspiracy the NIA said another accused in the case Mohamed Shariq had planned to carry out an IED blast at Kadri Temple Mangaluru on November 19 last year but the device had exploded prematurely due to timer malfunction which averted a potential disasterThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever