NEW DELHI, SEPT 28: A NIA Special Court in New Delhi has sentenced four ISIS operatives to rigorous imprisonment in the ‘Voice of Hind’ terror conspiracy case, bringing down the court’s verdict in a case centred on an online propaganda network allegedly used to radicalise and recruit youth in India.
Umar Nisar alias Qasim Khurasani, Rameez Ahmad Lone and Tanveer Ahmad Bhat have each been sentenced to six years’ rigorous imprisonment, while Afshan Parvaiz Jarabi has been sentenced to five years.
The court also imposed fines of ₹36,000, ₹31,000, ₹23,000 and ₹9,000, respectively, with all sentences to run concurrently.
The four were convicted on September 17 for criminal conspiracy and offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and IPC linked to the dissemination of ISIS propaganda, radicalisation and recruitment of youth and furtherance of the organisation’s activities.
The case, registered as RC-14/2021/NIA/DLI, relates to an alleged ISIS conspiracy to exploit online platforms for spreading extremist propaganda and recruiting individuals to further the organisation’s objectives.
The investigation focused on the India-centric propaganda magazine ‘Sawt-al-Hind’ (Voice of Hind) and its circulation through digital platforms, including Telegram.
According to the NIA, the accused were part of an online network involved in creating, editing and disseminating ISIS propaganda material.
The agency also alleged that the network sought to motivate Indians to undertake ‘hijrat’ to ISIS conflict zones and was linked to terror-financing activities.
During the probe, investigators seized digital and documentary material allegedly connected with ISIS propaganda, including Voice of Hind publications, radicalising literature, propaganda links, ISIS flags and banners, chats and audio recordings allegedly concerning weapon procurement, and other ideological and media-war material.
The court found A-1 involved in disseminating ISIS material through Voice of Hind, Telegram and other online channels; A-2 and A-3 involved in propagating ISIS ideology and radicalising and recruiting youth; and A-5 involved in publishing and disseminating articles through Telegram channels while propagating ISIS ideology.
The NIA had filed a chargesheet along with four supplementary chargesheets against eight accused. Trial against the remaining accused is continuing.
