NIA arrests Jamia student for collecting funds for IS

The National Investigation Agency ( NIA) has arrested a second-year electrical engineering student of Jamia Millia Islamia University for being an active member of the Islamic State and collecting funds for the terror outfit from sympathisers in India and abroad, agency said on Sunday.

The accused, identified as Mohsin Ahmad, 22, was sending the collected funds to Syria and other places through crypto-currency, the agency added.

People familiar with the development said Ahmad, who is a native of Patna but was currently living in Batla House area in Delhi, was arrested on Saturday evening. His Batla House accommodation was also searched based on specific information.

A NIA spokesperson said in a statement – “NIA conducted searches in the residential premises of accused Mohsin Ahmad and subsequently arrested him in the case pertaining to online and on-ground activities of ISIS.”

“Ahmad is a radicalised and active member of ISIS. He has been arrested for his involvement in collection of funds for ISIS from sympathizers in India as well as abroad. He was sending these funds to Syria and other places in the form of cryptocurrency in order to further the activities of ISIS,” the spokesperson said. Further investigations in the case are in progress, the NIA said.

The federal anti-terror probe agency registered a case on this ISIS module on June 25. Earlier, on July 31, the agency carried out searches at 13 premises of suspects in six states – Bhopal and Raisen in Madhya Pradesh, Bharuch, Surat, Navsari and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Arariya in Bihar, Bhatkal and Tumkur City in Karnataka, Kolhapur and Nanded in Maharashtra and Deoband in Uttar Pradesh.

Since September last year, the NIA has twice issued an appeal to the public to bring to its notice any propaganda or radicalisation on social media platforms by Islamic State members.

THE ACCUSED WAS SENDING THE COLLECTED FUNDS TO SYRIA AND OTHER PLACES THROUGH CRYPTOCURRENCY, THE AGENCY SAID