A second-year electrical engineering student from JMI University, Mohsin Ahmad was arrested by NIA over the charges of collecting funds for terrorist organizations like ISIS.
B.Tech’s second-year student from Jamia Millia Islamia University, Mohsin Ahmed was accused by the National Investigation Agency of collecting funds for ISIS.
The accused was collecting funds and sending them to Syria and other places through crypto-currency, the agency claimed.
Ahmad, a native of Patna, Bihar who was currently dwelling in the Batla House area in Delhi was arrested on Saturday evening. In search of information, his Batla House accommodation was also searched.
“NIA conducted searches in the residential premises of accused Mohsin Ahmad and subsequently arrested him in the case pertaining to online and on-ground activities of ISIS,” an NIA Spokesperson said.
“Ahmad is a radicalized and active member of ISIS. He has been arrested for his involvement in the collection of funds for ISIS from sympathizers in India as well as abroad. He was sending these funds to Syria and other places in the form of cryptocurrency in order to further the activities of ISIS,” the spokesperson said.
Adding on, NIA said we are probing and investigations into the case are in progress.
Family Responds to the Case
Claiming they will challenge the case in court, a family of Mohsin said, which arrived yesterday morning from Patna to Delhi.
“If he was raising funds, he should have had lots of money. The day before yesterday, he messaged me to ask for ₹ 4,000 to do a coding course,” one of his sisters told the media.
Also added that he is a kind person and that even in Covid he was aiding the poor people by providing them food grains and collecting donations for them.
She asserted his brother is naive and gullible and believed that his brother didn’t know what ISIS was.
Mohsin’s mother said, “He came to Delhi only on July 12. He was living in Delhi with his friend and cousin.” Also added that he was enrolled in Jamia Millia Islamia university and began living in Batla House, Delhi to continue his studies.
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History of Investigations of this Terror Funding Case
Investigations into the case kick-started last year after a case was registered by the federal anti-terror agency on June 25. With regard to evidence related to the case, the agency on July 31 carried out searches at thirteen places in six states. The states included- Araria (Bihar), Bhatkal and Tumkur City (Karnataka), Kolhapur and Nanded (Maharashtra), Deoband (Uttar Pradesh), Bhopal and Raisen (Madhya Pradesh) and Navsari, Bharuch, Ahmedabad and Surat (Gujarat).
In respect of finding a piece of evidence, the NIA even issued a plea in public last September. It solicited people to bring into consideration anything related to propaganda and radicalization on social media, especially by Islamic State members.
In a statement dated September 17, 2021, “Investigation by NIA has revealed that IS (Islamic State) is trying to spread its tentacles in India through continuous propaganda online. Gullible youth are targeted on open social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Also adding that anyone showing curiosity irrespective of gender is then contacted and conversed with cyber handlers, abroad based. The communication is in encrypted form through social media platforms.
Based on the nativity of the person, the agency then began using them for fulfilling their own purposes. Works assigned by them include- uploading content for social media accounts, translations of texts, arms and ammunition information and other terrorism-related activities.
For this, NIA also shared a contact no. 011-24368800 to be contacted in case anyone sees anything suspicious on the web. It should be immediately notified to the authorities through the contact number.
So far, the federal anti-terror agency has detained around 175 people in 38 cases ranging from funding, conspiracy and terror attacks. All the people in these cases are influenced by Islamic State (IS) ideology in the country. Out of this, in 31 cases charge sheets have been filed.
