The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charges against two additional individuals in connection with the Karnataka Al-Hind ISIS module case, which involves a significant terror plot focused on targeted killings and other extremist activities. The NIA provided this update in a statement released.
The accused, Abdul Mateen Taha and Mussavir Hussain Shazib, hail from Thirthahalli in the Shivamogga District of Karnataka. According to the NIA, these individuals were part of a broader conspiracy linked to ISIS and had been evading authorities until their capture on April 12, 2024.
In its second supplementary charge sheet related to this case, the NIA has formally charged the duo under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. This brings the total number of individuals charged with this case to 18.
The NIA took over the investigation from the Bengaluru City police on January 23, 2020. Their investigation uncovered that Abdul Mateen Taha had undergone self-radicalisation and subsequently influenced and recruited others, including Mussavir Hussain Shazib. Taha was introduced to an online handler, Bhai, also called Laptop Bhai, in 2018. He later connected Bhai with Mehaboob Pasha, who, along with his family, had established the Al-Hind Trust in Gurupanapallaya, Bengaluru. Pasha also shared a connection with another individual, Khaja Mohideen, who had joined the Al-Hind Trust with his associates to further ISIS activities in India.
The investigation also revealed that Taha and Shazib had sheltered two other accused individuals, Thowfeek and Abdul Shameem. These two later went on to murder Wilson SSI, a member of the Tamil Nadu Police, at the Kaliyakavillai check-post on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border using a pistol provided by Mehaboob Pasha, as stated by the NIA.
In late 2019, the Al-Hind module, an extension of ISIS operating in southern India, devised plans to establish a Daishwilayah, or ISIS province, within the dense forests of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. This plot came to light following a charge sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in July, which implicated 17 group members.
This revelation marked the first instance where an investigative agency in India uncovered an ISIS plot aiming to create a territorial foothold within the country. The terror group had long been associated with establishing Islamic states in regions it controlled, but the discovery of such a plan in India was unprecedented.
The arrests of those involved in the Al-Hind module occurred between December 2019 and January 2020. The 20-member group, led by Mehboob Pasha from Bengaluru and Khaja Moideen from Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, went to great lengths to prepare for their jungle-based operations. They even studied the tactics of notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, who had successfully evaded law enforcement for years.
In November 2019, Pasha and several others from the group visited the Shivanasamudra area in Karnataka to scout for a location where they could establish a training camp, build a secure hideout, and lay the foundation for the first ISIS province in India.
The NIA’s charge sheet, which was reviewed by various sources, detailed how the module members, under Moideen’s guidance, procured a range of survival and combat gear, including tents, raincoats, sleeping bags, and even firecrackers, intending to extract explosive materials for improvised explosive devices (IEDs). They also identified potential hideouts in various states, including Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal.
The group’s ultimate goal was to target high-profile individuals, including Hindu religious leaders, political figures, police officers, and government officials across India, before retreating to their forest base. The module operated under the instructions of an unknown foreign handler called “bhai” by the NIA.
This extensive operation was largely conducted from the Al-Hind Trust office in Bengaluru, with multiple raids carried out by investigative agencies across Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala in early 2020. The first charge sheet also revealed that Moideen had sold inherited land in Tamil Nadu to fund the purchase of jungle survival equipment and that the group members trained in martial arts such as Taekwondo and Kung Fu at the Al-Hind Trust premises. Additionally, they participated in anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) protests under Pasha’s direction.
Moideen, who had previously been arrested in 2014 for the murder of a Hindu leader in Tamil Nadu, was released on bail in July 2019. Following his release, he reconnected with Pasha to establish the Al-Hind module. Despite the arrests, NIA officials indicated that some members of the module remain at large.
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