Six men, suspected to be members of the ‘Haridwar module’ of the Islamic State and accused of conspiring to attack the Ardh Kumbh Mela with an improvised explosive device (IED), resorted to “extraction of explosive material from match sticks” — it was the recovery of “match stick powder” that established their association with each other. This is what the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has stated in its chargesheet filed Monday in a special court in Delhi. The chargesheet has been filed against Akhlakur Rehman, Mohd Azeemushan, Mohd Meraj, Mohd Osama, Mohsin Ibrahim Sayyed and Yusuf-al-Hindi under Section 120 B (conspiracy) of IPC and several provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The NIA said that during the period March to June 2014, Meraj came in contact with Yusuf-al-Hindi, an ISIS handler now based in Syria, who sent him literature via social media platforms like Facebook, Skype, Trillian, WhatsApp to assemble IEDs by extracting explosive material from match sticks. [related-post] Watch Video: What's making news The NIA said the CFSL firearm examination report “confirmed and opined” that “Potassium, Antimony, Phosphorous, Chlorate, Sulphide, and Ammonium” were detected in match stick powder recovered from Azeemushan and that “radicals can form explosive charge used in matches”. “Their association with each other is established on record and the recovery of the explosives in the form of explosive material match sticks. The extraction of explosive material from the match sticks guided by literature sent to them by Yusuf-al-Hindi. was to be used for assembling of IEDs,” the NIA chargesheet stated. “Akhlakur Rehman, Azeemushan, Meraj and Osama were in association with each other and hatched a nefarious plan to execute the conspiracy on the the directions of Yusuf-al-Hindi and in compliance of the instruction, Osama had purchased match sticks from Shamim Provision Store on Laksar Road near Police Post Landhaura and on the instance of Azeemushan explosive (65 gm match stick powder) was recovered,” the chargesheet stated. The NIA claimed that Akhlakur Rehman used Trillian ID “Wafabhai 7861” to chat with Yusuf-al-Hindi, and received a link regarding “Bomb banane ka Asan Tariqa”. “Incriminating pictures of slain ISIS terrorist Anwar Bhatkal and Yusuf-al-Hindi with slain terrorist Bada Sajid, videos containing different Muslim clerics giving motivation speech regarding jehadi literature, blood shedding, and ‘bomb banane ka asan tariqa, ‘diwali wale patakhon ke zarye, ‘table or alarm watch se timer banana’ - explaining the method of preparing IED in detail with help of match stick and firecrackers. were retrieved from mobile and electronic gadgets of accused Akhlakur Rehman. The CFSL has retrieved and extracted the data from the exhibits sent to them,” the chargesheet stated. The NIA claimed that Akhlakur Rehman “received” Rs 50,000 from Mohsin in Muzaffarnagar “as per instruction” from Yusuf-al-Hindi for purchasing mobile phones. The chargesheet stated that Mudabbir Mustaq Sheikh was made “Amir” in 2015 by Yusuf-al-Hindi and directed Sheikh to “attend meeting with other ISIS associates at Deoband and Lucknow for spreading ISIS network”. “Yusuf-al-Hindi sent Rs 5,86,000 through hawala to accused Mudabbir Mustaq Sheikh. Out of that, a sum of Rs 3,00,000 was given to accused Mohsin Ibrahim Sayyed at Darul Nadva Madrasa, in Lucknow,” the chargesheet stated.
