The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has conducted widespread searches at 10 locations across five states in an Al Qaida Gujarat terror conspiracy case filed in 2023, allegedly involving illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, officials said on Thursday.
The NIA raids come in the wake of the investigating agency probing the deadly car explosion outside the Red Fort on November 10, that killed at least 12 people.
The searches on Wednesday were linked with various suspects and their associates in West Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya, Haryana and Gujarat, an agency spokesperson said in a statement.
The official also said several digital devices and documents were seized that have been sent for forensic analysis.
The case, registered in 2023 in an Ahmedabad Special Court, centres around four Bangladeshi nationals – Mohd. Sojibmiyan, Munna Khalid Ansari, Azarul Islam, and Abdul Latif – who had illegally infiltrated into India from Bangladesh using forged Indian identity documents, the NIA alleged.
“They were found to be connected with the proscribed Al-Qaida terrorist organisation. The men were involved in collection and transfer of funds to Al Qaida operatives in Bangladesh, and were also found to be actively motivating Muslim youth,” the statement said.
Also Read: Delhi car blast: Al-Falah University under scanner
Meanwhile, the Al-Falah University in Faridabad, which finds itself in the middle of a terror module busted after three doctors working there were found to be involved in the deadly car explosion that occurred outside the Red Fort, has distanced itself from the accused.
As the police conducts frantic raids across its campus and in homes in the nearby villages of Dhouj and Fatehpur Taga, in search of explosive materials and suspects connected to the blasts, the university issued a statement saying it had no knowledge of all those accused of being a part of nefarious terrorist activities and the ‘Faridabad terror module’.
“We have also learnt that two of our doctors have been detained by the investigating agencies. We wish to make it clear that the university has no connection with the said persons apart from them being working in their official capacities with the university,” Vice Chancelor, Bhupinder Kaur Anand, said in the statement.
Dr. Umar Nabi, an alleged occupant of the car used in the explosion, who was also killed, was a junior doctor at the Al-Falah University, besides two others arrested, who also worked there.
Anand refuted allegations doing the rounds on the “social media” about the university laboratories being used for storing chemicals or materials. “The university laboratories are used solely and exclusively for the academic and training requirements of MBBS students and other authorised courses,” the statement added.
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