NIA files chargesheet against Tania Parvin in jihadi ‘hiring’ case
New Delhi, Sep 11 (IANS) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday said it filed chargesheet against Tania Parvin in Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) online recruitment module case.
The chargesheet said she became member of 70 jihadi groups on social media, which propagated terrorist ideology advocating a skewed version of ‘Islamic Jihad’.
The chargesheet was filed on Thursday in a Special NIA court in West Bengal’s Kolkata. She has been charged under sections of the strict Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
An NIA spokesperson in Delhi said, “During investigation it was revealed that Parvin had got radicalised in the cyberspace by Pakistan based cadres of LeT. She gradually became part of about 70 jihadi groups on social media, which propagated a terrorist ideology advocating a skewed version of Islamic Jihad with an aim to further radicalise and recruit impressionable Muslim youth.”
The official said that Parvin was also active in various “Palestinian and Syrian Jihadi” social media groups.
“Investigation further revealed that the LeT cadres based in Lahore, Pakistan had introduced the accused to the officials of Pakistan Intelligence Agency, ISI, who tasked her to open fake Facebook profile and befriend armed force members in India to obtain sensitive strategic information,” the official said.
According to NIA officials, Parvin, 22, was taken into custody in April by NIA as she was in touch with Pakistani handlers through several Pakistani SIM cards.
She also distributed Indian SIMs and was handling communication through WhatsApp groups and Facebook.
NIA sources had earlier said that highly radicalised Parvin was also in touch with Hafiz Saeed, the chief of banned terror outfit Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD).
The NIA had taken over the case from West Bengal Police in April this year to bust the ring of female spies, as she was in touch with several handlers in Pakistan, including 26/11 Mumbai blast mastermind Saeed, according to sources.
Source claimed ISI was using her to honeytrap officials and access sensitive information.
The NIA sources claimed the special task force nabbed Parvin, a student of the Maulana Azad College — a state-run Kolkata college, from the Baduria near the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district.
She was nabbed after a year-long surveillance, NIA officials said.
–IANS
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