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The raids were conducted at the premises of suspects in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, Gir Somnath district of Gujarat, Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh and Kozhikode district of Kerala, leading to the seizure of incriminating documents and digital devices, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.
The official said the raids also revealed links of the suspects with Pakistan-based handlers.
”These suspects were in contact with the handlers and were involved in propagating the radical, anti-India idea of Ghazwa-e-Hind,” the spokesperson said.
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The case was initially registered on July 14 last year by the Phulwarisharif police in Bihar, following the arrest of Marghoob Ahmad Danish alias ”Tahir” who was the administrator of the WhatsApp group Ghazwa-e-Hind, created by a Pakistani national identified as Zain, the official said.
The official said the accused, Tahir, had added many people from India as well as other countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Yemen, to the group, which was also active on other social media platforms such as Telegram and BiP Messenger.
”Aimed at radicalizing impressionable youths in the name of establishment of Ghazwa-e-Hind over the territory of India, the group was being operated by Pakistan-based suspects,” the spokesperson said.
The NIA investigation showed that Tahir was trying to motivate the group members with an ulterior objective of raising sleeper cells for carrying out terrorist activities across India, the official said, adding he had also created another WhatsApp group in the name of ‘BDGhazwa E HindBD’, to which he had added Bangladeshi nationals.
The NIA has been probing the case since July 22 last year when it took over the investigation from the state police.
The anti-terror agency had filed a charge sheet against the arrested accused in the case on January 6 under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.