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MUMBAI: A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday framed charges against two accused in a 2016 case in which youth from Malwani (Malad) were allegedly instigated to join outlawed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Charges were framed against Rizwan Ahmed (22) and Mohsin Sayyed (29) under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) sections 18 (conspiracy of terror activity), 20 (being member of terrorist gang or organisation), 38 (offence related to membership of a terrorist organisation) and 39 (support given to a terrorist organisation). They were also charged under an Indian Penal Code section for criminal conspiracy.

NIA said investigations revealed that the accused were involved in unlawful activities of instigating youth of Malwani to join ISIS. “It has also been revealed that they supported ISIS in its terrorist acts and instigated, advocated, advised, incited youth of the Malwani area to leave India to join the proscribed terrorist organisation of ISIS for jihad,” NIA said. It said that in 2015, accused Ayaz Mohammed entered into a criminal conspiracy with Sayyed and his handler, Yusuf Al Hindi, to propagate jihadi activities of ISIS, in a bid to join and pursue its activities. NIA said that in pursuance of the conspiracy, Mohammed got a passport in September, 2015 and got a visa in October, 2015 and left for Kabul from the airport in New Delhi and joined ISIS in Afghanistan.

Interestingly, in December 2015, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) said Wajid Shaikh (25), who went missing from Malwani with friends and was detained in Pune, did not have links with ISIS but had come in contact with people who were provoking him. Shaikh, freed after questioning, said he, Mohsin Sayyed and Noor Mohammed left home after another missing youth Ayaz Sultan’s parents asked them about his whereabouts and somebody said police would question them as they were close to Sultan, who used to show them videos on ISIS.

