NIA filed charge-sheet in NIA Special Court, Chennai against ten accused persons namely i) Sheik Dawood, aged 33, R/o Tanjavur district; ii) Mohamed Rifas, aged 37, R/o Ramanathapuram district; iii) Muparish Ahamed, aged 23, R/o Ramanathapuram district; iv) Abubakar Siddiq , aged 24, R/o Ramanathapuram district; v) Ahamed Imithiyas , aged 31, R/o Tiruvarur district; vi) Mohamed Rashid , aged 25, R/o Cuddalore district; vii) Hameed Asfar , aged 23, R/o Ramanathapuram district; viii) Liyakath Ali , aged 30, R/o Salem district, ix) Sajith Ahamed , aged 23, R/o Tiruvarur district and x) Rizwan Mohammed , aged 26, R/o Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu under sections 120B, 153A, 121A and 122 of IPC, sections 13 and 18 of UA (P) Act and section 25(1)(a) of Arms Act.
The case was originally registered as FIR 46/ 2018 dated 02.04.2018, under sections 153A and 120B of Indian Penal Code ;sections 15(c), 17, 18, 19 and 20 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 and sections 25(1)(a) of Arms Act, 1959 at Keelakarai Police Station in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu after the arrest of accused Mohamed Rifas, Muparish Ahamed and Abupakkar Sithik from Keelakarai. Lethal weapons including swords along with pamphlets pertaining to the terrorist gang ‘Shahadat is our Goal’ were seized from their possession. NIA re-registered the case on 10.01.2019.
Investigation in the case has established that the charge-sheeted accused persons were radicalized by violent jihadi ideology. The prime accused Sheik Dawood and Mohamed Rifas had conspired with co-accused and organized meetings at various places in Tamil Nadu, since Ramadan, 2017, with the intention of radicalising and recruiting the co-accused and others for shahadat (getting themselves killed) to establish Islamic rule in India. The accused had created various social media groups, especially on WhatsApp and were disseminating materials advocating violent jihad, including the videos and speeches of the Sri Lankan ISIS/ Daish leader Zahran Hashim. Accused persons had also prepared pamphlets titled “Shahadat is our Goal” calling for violent jihad to liberate their associates lodged in prisons. In furtherance of the conspiracy, accused Sheik Dawood and Mohammed Rifas had also attempted to carry out terrorist acts by procuring illegal firearms in order to liberate their associates lodged in prisons.
