ISIS terror plot: NIA files charge sheet in Mumbai court; names 2, including Libyan man

Mumbai: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet before a Mumbai Special Court, naming two accused, including a Libyan national in the sensational ISIS terror conspiracy busted in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, an official said here on Friday.

The NIA has named M. Zoheb Khan of Maharashtra, who was arrested earlier this year (February 2024) and the Libyan M. Shoeb Khan, as the key conspirators in the terror plot linked with a module in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to the ISIS’ global networks.

Zoheb was recruited by Shoeb and they hatched a plot to promote ISIS’ anti-India agenda, recruit vulnerable youth to carry out terrorist strikes at sensitive installations across the country.

The charge sheet before the NIA Special Court has exposed the international linkages of the conspiracy involving the overseas handlers of the ISIS/IS operatives.

The NIA probe has already exposed the web of anti-India activities involving Zoheb and Shoeb, who had taken ‘bayath (pledge of allegiance)’ towards the self-anointed Khalifa of ISIS.

After targeting India with a series of terror strikes, Zoheb and Shoeb had planned to flee to Turkey or Afghanistan, as per the NIA probe.

They were actively involved in developing and hosting a website to promote the violent, extremist ISIS ideology through which they planned to recruit youth from across the world into the ISIS fold.

The probe found that Zoheb had already formed a WhatsApp group with over 50 youths as members from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, with the intention to radicalise and recruit them to further the ISIS’ nefarious activities in India.

Both Zoheb and Shoeb were exchanging videos pertaining to manufacturing of explosives and fabricating IEDs for the planned terror strikes.

They had also prepared a detailed time-table of their agenda, comprising planning, preparing and executing terror hits at multiple locations in India, and the follow-up action in the aftermath.

“The accused persons had conspired to endanger the safety and security of India, its secular ethos and culture, and the democratic systems of governance,” said the NIA in the charge sheet.