Bhopal HuT module: NIA names 18th accused, expands probe into foreign links

BHOPAL: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a supplementary charge sheet naming one more suspect and adding fresh charges against five others in the 2023 Madhya Pradesh terror conspiracy case linked to the banned outfit Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT).The latest filing — the first supplementary charge sheet in case RC-15/2023/NIA/DLI — was submitted before the NIA Special Court in Bhopal, the agency said on Friday.“With this, a total of 18 accused have so far been charge-sheeted in the HuT conspiracy case. The original charge sheet was filed against 17 accused on November 4, 2023,” an NIA spokesperson said.The supplementary charge sheet names Mohsin Khan alias Dawood, Mohammad Alam, Misbah-ul-Hasan, Yasir Khan, Syed Danish Ali, and Mohammad Shahrukh.

According to investigators, they were involved in a terrorist act — the burning of a police officer’s car — allegedly carried out under instructions from a foreign handler.“While Mohsin Khan has been newly charge-sheeted under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UA(P)A) and IPC, additional provisions of the same laws have been invoked against the other five accused who were already named in the original charge sheet,” the agency stated.

The case was initially registered in May 2023 by the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS), Bhopal, following inputs that HuT members were secretly recruiting Muslim youth in Madhya Pradesh and other parts of India with the objective of overthrowing the democratically elected government and establishing a Sharia-based Caliphate.According to the NIA, HuT operatives organised “secret meetings disguised as religious gatherings (Dars)” to propagate an anti-democratic ideology, fuel communal hatred, and indoctrinate recruits into committing acts of violent jihad. The group also conducted combat-style training and physical exercises to prepare members for future attacks, the investigation revealed.The NIA said the investigation is ongoing to unravel the larger conspiracy, trace absconding members and sympathisers, and identify overseas handlers and funding networks associated with HuT’s anti-India operations.