Four ISIS operatives sentenced to up to six years in ‘Voice of Hind’ case

An NIA court sentenced four ISIS operatives to five and six years in jail in the 'Voice of Hind' terror conspiracy case. The accused were convicted of criminal conspiracy and offences under UAPA and the IPC linked to ISIS propaganda and recruitment.

New Delhi: Four operatives of the proscribed terrorist organisation ISIS were on Monday sentenced to varying jail terms of up to six years by an NIA court here in connection with the ‘Voice of Hind’ terror conspiracy case.

Umar Nisar alias Qasim Khurasani, Rameez Ahmad Lone and Tanveer Ahmad Bhat were each sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment, while Afshan Parvaiz Jarabi was given five years of rigorous imprisonment, along with fines of Rs 36,000, Rs 31,000, Rs 23,000 and Rs 9,000, respectively, a statement issued by the NIA said.

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All the sentences have been directed to run concurrently, it said.

The four accused were convicted by the special court on September 17.

The court found them guilty of criminal conspiracy and various offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Indian Penal Code relating to dissemination and propagation of ISIS material, radicalisation and recruitment of youth, and furthering the activities of the proscribed terrorist organisation, the NIA said.

The case relates to a conspiracy hatched by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to radicalise and recruit impressionable youth in India to wage violent jihad against the Indian State.

ISIS terrorists operating from various conflict zones, along with ISIS cadres in India, created a network using pseudo online identities for dissemination of ISIS-related propaganda, the anti-terror agency said.

The organised online campaign was supplemented by on-ground terror financing activities, it added.

NIA’s investigation revealed the involvement of cyber entities and their associates in the content creation, editing, publication and dissemination of the India-centric ISIS propaganda magazine ‘Sawt-al-Hind (Voice of Hind)’ through online platforms.

The network was also involved in motivating and facilitating Indians for so-called “hijrat” (migration) to ISIS conflict theatres in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas, the statement said.

During the course of investigation, voluminous incriminating documents and digital material, including PDFs of ‘Voice of Hind’, posters of slain terrorists, radicalising literature, web links to ISIS propaganda, an ISIS-flag T-shirt, chats and audio recordings relating to weapon procurement, media/ideological/psychological warfare material, and ISIS banners/flags were recovered and seized by the NIA.

The court found the specific involvement of the four convicts in furthering the activities of ISIS.

Umar Nisar was found involved in dissemination and propagation of ISIS material through the ‘Voice of Hind’ magazine and Telegram and other online channels for radicalising and recruiting youth, the NIA said.

Rameez Ahmad Lone and Tanveer Ahmad Bhat were found involved in preaching ISIS ideology and radicalising and recruiting youth for the purpose of joining ISIS, it said.

Afshan Parvaiz Jarabi was found involved in publication and dissemination of articles for the ‘Voice of Hind’ magazine through Telegram channels and in propagating ISIS ideology and inviting youth to join ISIS, the probe agency said.

NIA filed the chargesheet and four supplementary chargesheets against a total of eight accused persons.

The investigation established the involvement of the accused persons in the activities of the ISIS ‘Voice of Hind’ module and their role in furthering the objectives of the proscribed terrorist organisation through online activities, the agency said.

The trial against the remaining accused persons is continuing, it added.