Uttar Pradesh: NIA Attaches Property Used by Active al-Qaeda Member to Prepare for Terror Attack

The NIA has attached a house in Uttar Pradesh as “proceeds of terrorism”, as it was purportedly being used by an active al-Qaeda member to prepare for an alleged terror attack. The central agency recovered material used to make petrol bombs and IEDs from the house.

According to the NIA, the house was being used by a member of the banned terrorist organisation, al-Qaeda or Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, to prepare for terror attacks. The accused, identified as Minhaj Ahmed, was using the property located in Adnan Palli on the Ring Road of Lucknow’s Dubagga area. The house is registered in the name of Siraj Ahmad, the father of the accused, and two other family members.

The NIA said the house was being used for carrying out terror-related unlawful activities, including fabrication of IEDs and petrol bombs, to carry out terrorist attacks in the state.

The NIA, which attached the property on Monday under Section 25 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, has found that Minhaj was closely working with Adil Nabi Teli alias Musa, a terrorist affiliated with the The Resistance Front (an affiliate of the proscribed terrorist organisation Laskhar-e-Taiba).

Musa was killed in an encounter with security forces on March 16, 2022. An investigation into the case related to radicalisation as well as recruitment for al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) led to Minhaj’s links with Musa.

The NIA further said Minhaj had provided funds to the co-accused in the case for the purpose of carrying out a violent terror attack in Kashmir. The accused had procured raw materials and components to fabricate an IED in a pressure cooker, which was recovered from the property.

Minhaj had also prepared a sample IED using materials in small quantities and carried out a controlled explosion on the roof of the house, the NIA said. The agency found that Minhaj had recorded a video of the IED fabrication as well as its controlled explosion and sent it to Musa. He had also prepared a petrol bomb and shared a video of its fabrication, and procured a pistol as well as live ammunition concealing it in his room on the first floor of the house.

The FIR in the case was initially registered on July 11, 2021 by the anti-terrorism squad in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar. The NIA took over later in the month and re-registered the FIR on July 29, 2021. So far, six accused have been arrested and chargesheeted in the case.