EXPANDING the ambit of its probe into the Bengaluru Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) prison radicalisation case, the National Investigation Agency on Tuesday raided multiple locations across seven States, an official said. A host of digital devices and incriminating documents along with cash were recovered during the raids conducted on the premises of suspected persons in various places including Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Punjab, Gujarat and West Bengal, a spokesperson of the federal agency said. In January, the NIA had filed a chargesheet against eight persons in the case. The charge-sheeted accused included T Naseer of Kannur, Kerala, who is serving a life sentence in Central Prison, Bengaluru, since 2013, while Junaid Ahmed alias ‘JD’ and Salman Khan are suspected to have fled abroad. The case was originally registered by the Bengaluru City Police on July 18 last year following seizure of arms and ammunition including seven pistols, four hand grenades, one magazine and 45 live rounds along with four walkie-talkies from the possession of seven of the accused persons.

 

During the raids across seven states this morning, the spokesperson said they recovered 25 mobile phones, six laptops and four storage devices, besides various incriminating documents and cash, apart from the currency notes of various countries. The spokesperson said the raids involved extensive searches at the premises of Naveed, Syed Khail, and Bijju of Karnataka, Mayur Chakrobraborty of West Bengal, Navjot Singh of Punjab, Hardik Kumar and Karan Kumar of Gujarat, Johnson of Kerala, and Musthaq Ahmed Sathikali, Mubith and Hassan Al Bassam of Tamil Nadu. The investigations revealed that the absconders had established a network of individuals across India to promote the activities of LeT and to route funds to various individuals anonymously, the official said. According to the NIA which took over the case in October 2023, the investigations revealed that Naseer, who was involved in several blast cases, had come in contact with the other accused while they were all lodged in Bengaluru prison during 2017.

 

Naseer had managed to get them all shifted to his barracks after a careful assessment of their potential with a view to radicalise and recruit them into the proscribed terror group LeT. The agency had said he first managed to radicalise and recruit Ahmad and Khan to further the activities of the LeT and thereafter, he conspired with Ahmad to radicalise and recruit the other accused, the official said. He also conspired with Khan to deliver arms, ammunition, hand grenades and walkie talkies to the others, as part of a plot to carry out a ‘fidayeen’ (suicide) attack and help Naseer escape from police custody enroute to court, the official said. Ahmad also instructed his co-accused to steal used police caps for the attack and to commit arson on Government buses as a practice run. The plot was foiled with the seizure of the arms in July last year.