Court gives NIA 1 month more to probe ISIS case

New Delhi: A special court has extended by a month the period of NIA's investigation against 14 suspected ISIS operatives after the agency said the larger conspiracy of the outfit in India and abroad, including recruitment of resident and non-resident Indians, was yet to be ascertained.

According to court sources, during an in-camera hearing, District Judge Amar Nath allowed the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) plea seeking extension of the probe period in the case beyond 90 days.

Sources said the court extended the period of probe against these 14 arrested accused till May 18. It also extended the judicial custody of these accused by one month.

They said the NIA told the court that probe into the case was spread in different parts of the country and abroad for which they required more time to complete the investigation.

"During the course of investigation, larger conspiracy of IS activities in India and abroad including recruitment of resident and non-resident Indians by the IS is yet to be ascertained," the NIA said.

Sources said that in the plea, the agency stated that they were awaiting the forensic results of the articles, including external hard disks, mobile phones and SIM cards, which were recovered from the possession of the accused.

The 14 accused whose period of investigation was extended are -- Mohd Aleem, Mohd Obaidullah Khan, Nafees Khan, Mohd Shareef Moinuddin Khan, Asif Ali, Najmul Huda, Mudabbir Mushtaq Shaikh, Mohd Abdul Ahad, Suhail Ahmed, Syed Mujahid, Mohd Hussain Khan, Mohd Afzal, Imran and Abu Anas.

They were arrested from different parts of the country for allegedly recruiting and financing people to join the Middle Eastern terror group.

The NIA had earlier told the court that the accused have disclosed during their interrogation "their involvement in this case about recruiting and financing persons willing to join the Caliphate of ISIS at Syria".

They were arrested under several sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and IPC. A case was registered by NIA on December 9, 2015 against unknown and unidentified persons involved in the activities of Islamic State (IS) in India and Asian Powers in Peace with India.