Through its investigation in the past six months, the probe agency alleged that AQIS through its chief Sanaul Haq was trying to set up base in India.
Six months after Mohammed Asif was arrested by Delhi's Special Cell unit, Delhi Police submitted its chargesheet accusing 17, 12 of whom are absconding, for allegedly conspiring, recruiting Indian youths and establishing a base of terror outfit Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).
In the more than a thousand-page charge sheet filed before Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Reetesh Singh at Patiala Court, Delhi Police charged the five arrested accused -- Mohd Asif, Zafar Masood, Mohd Abdul Rehman, Syed Anzar Shah and Abdul Sami -- for alleged offences under the provisions of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The five accused were arrested between between December 2015 and January 2016 from various parts of the country.
Besides these five, the police have also charged 12 others who are absconding and have a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against them by the court. The absconding accused are AQIS chief Sanaul Haq, Syed Akhtar and Usman, who are believed to be working directly for Haq and others that include Mohd Sharjeel Akhtar, Mohd Rehan, Abu Sufiyan, Syed Mohd Arshiyan, Syed Mohd Zishan Ali, Sabeel Ahmed, Mohd Shahid Faisal, Farhatullah Ghori and Mohd Umar.
In the charge sheet, Delhi police have outlined Asif's journey from working in a building materials supply shop in Western Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district to becoming the head of the Indian Chapter of AQIS. Based on Asif's interrogation and testimony, authorities apprehended Masood, Rehman and Shah from various parts of the country.
Through its investigation in the past six months, the probe agency alleged that AQIS through its chief Haq was trying to set up base in India. Asif, also from Sambhal like Haq, was one the main propagators. In order to set up a module in India, in the first decade of the 21st century, Asif traveled to Waziristan, Pakistan, through Iran and Turkey where he received "Deeni (religious training)," though, he was exempt from rigorous "Askari (battle and weapons training)" due to his advanced stage.
There he met leaders of various other banned terror outfits including leaders from Indian Mujideen, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Toiba and others.
It has been alleged that the accused were in touch with each other through email, Skype and various other social media platforms. During the investigation, experts from the Cyber Forensic Division, CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) and Department of Electronics & Information Technology were called to verify the data - the report of which would be found in the supplementary charge sheet.
Asif's account of his travels and his communication have been verified through airline tickets, emails and a note by the Ministry of External affairs that confirms Asif had applied for an emergency passport at the Indian Mission in Istanbul, Turkey claiming he was a tourist and had lost his passport.
Of the 17 accused, six hail from Sambhal and are known to be either childhood friends or neighbours. This development may bring Sambhal under the radar after Bhatkal, Karnataka and Azamgarh, UP.
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