NIA denies asking public for info on those giving ‘beheading’ calls against Hindus

The central agency said the numbers it had issued in the public domain was for reporting on Islamic State activities and not in relation to the Nupur Sharma controversy.

“It has come to our notice that certain misleading messages purportedly issued by the NIA are being circulated on various social media platforms. Everyone is hereby informed that the NIA has not issued any such message. Such messages are totally fake and malicious and are part of a mischievous design to mislead the public,” NIA said in a statement.

It said that during investigations into some IS activities last year, it had come to notice that IS (Islamic State) was targeting gullible youth and radicalising them through false propaganda to further its violent designs.

“Accordingly, an appeal was made in September 2021 that any such suspicious activity may be reported to the authorities, including the NIA, on its landline number: 011-24368800. We appeal to the people not to be misled by such fake and false messaging. However, they are most welcome to join hands with the NIA in safeguarding our country and its people against terrorism by sharing information about terrorist activities and elements,” it said.

Notably, the NIA is investigating at least two cases where the controversy has been found to be associated with the two brutal murders of Hindus in Udaipur, Rajasthan and Amravati in Maharashtra. In both cases, different groups of allegedly radicalised Muslims killed two Hindus by way of stabbing and hacking. In the Udaipur incident, the killers had even released a video of the gruesome act.

Both the cases are being investigated under charges of terrorism and multiple suspects have been arrested. The agency has also found that the Udaipur killers were associated with a proselytizing group in Pakistan. It has also been found that both the groups had social media presence and were, perhaps, radicalised over the internet.