According to persons acquainted with the matter, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted raids at 17 sites across seven states on Tuesday as part of its investigation into the radicalization case involving the Bengaluru prison.
T. Naseer, a terrorist of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who was sentenced to life in prison, is said to have radicalised several inmates at Bengaluru Central Prison and encouraged them to launch terror strikes across the nation.
Following the discovery of weapons and ammunition, including seven pistols, four hand grenades, one magazine, forty-five live rounds, and four walkie-talkies, in July 2023, the Bengaluru City Police initially opened a case.
The NIA took over the investigation on October 25, 2023, and as of December 13, 2023, several raids have been conducted.
Although it’s unclear if the bombing at a well-known Bengaluru cafe on Friday has anything to do with the NIA’s Tuesday searches, those with knowledge of the developments said they will undoubtedly investigate any potential connections. The agency took over the investigation into the explosion at the Rameshwaram cafe on Monday.
In the radicalization case involving the Bengaluru prison, the federal authorities have already charged eight people, including Naseer and two fugitives.
Naseer, a native of Kannur in Kerala, has been serving a life sentence since 2013. During his incarceration, Naseer radicalised Salman Khan and Junaid Ahmed, two people who are thought to have escaped abroad.
The following people are thought to have had contact with Naseer: Mohammed Umar, Zahid Tabrez, Syed Mudassir Pasha, Mohammed Faisal Rabbani, and Syed Suhail Khan. The agency has also filed charges against these five individuals under the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Explosives Substances Act, and the Arms Act.
After carefully evaluating each person’s ability to radicalise and recruit them into the LeT, Naseer was able to get them all moved to his barracks. To promote the activities of the LeT, he first succeeded in radicalising and recruiting Junaid and Salman. Later, he plotted with Junaid to radicalise and recruit the other accused, according to a January statement from the NIA.
After committing a few more crimes, Junaid was thought to have moved overseas after being released from prison.
He started transferring money to his co-accused from overseas to support LeT operations both inside and outside of prison, according to the NIA investigations. In order to carry out a “fidayeen” attack and assist Naseer in escaping from police custody while he was being transported to court, he also planned with Salman to give weapons, ammo, hand grenades, and walkie-talkies to the other participants. In addition, Junaid gave his accomplice the go-ahead to practice burning on government buses and to steal police hats in preparation for the attack. The agency stated that the plot was thwarted when the weapons and other items were seized in July of last year.
