NIA gets 12-day custody of ISIS-inspired group, accused say evidence was planted: The case so far

Delhi's Patiala House Court sends all the accused arrested by NIA to 12 days remand. A Delhi court on Thursday allowed 12-day custodial interrogation by NIA of 10 people arrested on the suspicion of being members of an ISIS-inspired group who were planning suicide attacks and serial blasts, targeting politicians as also government installations, in Delhi and other parts of north India. 

New Delhi: The 10 accused arrested in ISIS case being taken to court from the NIA headquarter in New Delhi, Thursday, Dec 27, 2018. 

NIA had sought 15-day custodial interrogation of the arrested, saying it needed to unearth the entire conspiracy for which there were intelligence inputs.NIA has already unearthed everything, says lawyer of accused 

The agency's plea was opposed by advocate M S Khan, appearing for all the accused, on the ground that NIA has already unearthed everything involving the case as they had held a press conference on Wednesday to make public the outcome of their investigation.
After their custodial interrogation, they will be produced before the court on January 8.

Lawyer of accused, M S Khan, also told the reporters "They're students. What NIA has recovered includes tractor’s power nozzle which they planted & called it a rocket launcher. What they're calling explosives are actually ‘sutli bombs’ that'  used in Diwali. There is a lot of fabrication."  

The 10 accused, including a 'mufti', were produced amidst tight security and with covered faces before Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Pandey who carried out in-camera proceedings in the case. The accused were arrested from various parts of the national capital and Uttar Pradesh after searches carried out on Wednesday.

Those arrested include the alleged mastermind, 29-year-old Suhail, a 'mufti', or a Muslim legal expert empowered to give rulings on religious matters, from Amroha in western Uttar Pradesh, an engineering student in a private university in Noida and a third-year graduation student in humanities in a university in Delhi as well as two welders, NIA had said on Wednesday.

Those arrested are: Mufti Mohammed Suhail alias Hazrath (29), Anas Yunus (24), Rashid Zafar Raq alias Zafar (23), Saeed alias Sayeed (28), Saeed's brother Raees Ahmad, Zubair Malik (20), Zubair's brother Zaid (22), Saqib Iftekar (26), Mohammed Irshad (in late 20s) and Mohammed Azam (35).

After the proceedings, the judge allowed family members of some of the accused to have a meeting with them in the courtroom as they had produced their identity proofs.

The accused were arrested after NIA carried out searches, in coordination with Special cell of Delhi Police and Anti-Terrorism Squad of Uttar Pradesh Police, at six places in Jafrabad, Seelampur in Delhi, and 11 places in Uttar Pradesh -- six in Amroha, two in Lucknow, two in Hapur and two in Meerut. 

"We could not say anything to our son when we met him in court. What do we tell you?" said Gulzar Ahmed, father of Zaid and Zubair Malik, who are among the 10 people arrested on suspicion of being members of an ISIS-inspired group allegedly planning suicide attacks in Delhi and other parts of north India.
Ahmed, sitting inside the chamber of his sons' lawyer at the Patiala House court on Thursday, refused to talk anymore to reporters scrambling to get his byte.

"We don't know what or how it happened. Yesterday, these people came, asked women to assemble in one room, picked them up. However, they did not misbehave with us," a relative accompanying Ahmed said, explaining the circumstances under which Zaid and Zubair were arrested by NIA on Wednesday.

"We know as much as you know through the news. We could not say anything to them (the investigators) as we are working people," the relative added.

Relatives of other people arrested in connection with the terror plot also seemed clueless why their loved ones were being treated as "terrorists".

They said there was an atmosphere of fear in their locality in Zafarabad in Delhi.

A neighbour of Anas Yunus, a civil engineering student arrested on Wednesday, accompanied his family to the court. He said, "We were woken up around 5 am due to the commotion in the locality as hundreds of men marched through the area. Their vehicles had been parked on the main road. After the raids, our children are scared whether they will also be arrested like this. Ek darr ka mahaul hai." The relatives of most of the accused said their children are "innocent" and were living a normal life until now.

Zafar, another accused, is unmarried and was in the garment business, his uncle Iqrar Ahmed said.

"All we know is none of them are involved in any such activity as specified by them (NIA). What more can I say? All we know is that the raid started around 4 am. They came inside the house, picked him up without telling us anything.

"It was shocking. It's better to remain silent. We have been consulting lawyers. We will go by what lawyers and the court say. Rest is fate," he added.

Mufti Mohammed Suhail alias Hazrath, who has been identified as the group's founder by the NIA, married in August last year. He had been working as a cleric at a madrasa on Hakim Mahtab Uddin Hashmi Road in Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, said one of his uncles.

"A lot has been said about Suhail's involvement. Unfortunately, he has been highlighted the most. It is also being said that he went to Syria. He has never stepped outside Amroha. We have copies of his passport and he has never travelled abroad. He has no such involvement. There is no truth to what they (the investigators) have claimed," said his uncle.

Suhail's cousin said they have been asked by their lawyer to not talk to the media and they are scared after the raids on Wednesday.

"Police just barged into the home, broke open the doors. All members of the family were sent outside. They started their search early in the morning around 4 am. They continued searching till 12 noon. The house was completely tuned upside down by them but they did not find any substantial evidence," he said.

His uncle said, "We could just see him for seconds inside the courtroom. Through hand gestures we asked him if he was fine; he signalled us in affirmation." The relatives had arrived much before the scheduled court hearing at 2.30 pm and were waiting anxiously to get a glimpse of their loved ones.

After the court proceedings, the judge allowed family members of seven accused Mufti Mohammed Suhail alias Hazrath (29), Anas Yunus (24), Rashid Zafar Raq alias Zafar (23), Zubair Malik (20), Zubair's brother Zaid (22), Saqib Iftekar (26), and Mohammed Azam (35) to meet them in the courtroom.

However, Raq's family could not meet him due to a lack of original identity proof while all others produced the documents.

The NIA has said it busted a suspected ISIS-inspired terror group with the arrest of the 10 persons. It has said the suspects were planning suicide attacks and serial blasts targeting politicians and government installations in Delhi and other parts of north India.

A locally made rocket launcher, material for suicide vests and 100 alarm clocks, to be used as timers, were seized during the searches in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Five of the accused have been arrested from Amroha and five from two areas in Delhi. 

The searches and the arrests came a month before the Republic Day celebrations on January 26. According to NIA, a locally-made rocket launcher, material for suicide vests and 112 alarm clocks to be used as timers were recovered from the searches. The agency also said it recovered 25 kg of explosive material -- Potassium Nitrate, Ammonium Nitrate and Sulphur. 

The group allegedly had also purchased remote control cars and wireless doorbells to use their circuits in assembling remote-controlled improvised explosive devices. Besides, the NIA also recovered steel containers, electric wires, 91 mobile phones, 134 SIM cards, 3 laptops, knife, sword, ISIS-related literature during the searches.

NIA had also released an official statement on Twitter. 

The probe agency had initially rounded up 16 persons of the group 'Harkat ul Harb e Islam', which loosely translates into war for the cause of Islam. Of the 16 detained, 10 were later arrested - five from Amroha, in UP and five from Seelampur and Jafrabad localities in north-east Delhi, the agency had said. 

(All Photo Credits: PTI)

The Patiala House court complex in the heart of the national capital turned into a fortress on Thursday when 10 people arrested on the suspicion of being members of an ISIS-inspired group and allegedly planning suicide attacks and serial blasts, were produced in the court amidst tight security.
The security was tightened since afternoon and around 20-25 personnel of the CRPF were deputed in the court complex along with a number of Delhi Police officials, said one of the police officers.

At 2:35 pm, the police force brought the accused with muffled faces to the court complex along a makeshift passage made with ropes and by creating a human wall between them and others.

During their way to the court room from the lock up situated inside the court complex, some security officials were also seen video recording it.The force included women officials as well.