Prison radicalisation case: Bengaluru terror suspects remanded to NIA custody for 6 days
Three terror suspects (including a jail psychiatrist) arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for aiding Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative T. Naseer inside the Central jail in Bengaluru, were remanded to NIA custody for six days by a Special Court on Wednesday.
NIA raids across five locations in Bengaluru and Kolar a day earlier led to the arrest of Dr Nagaraj, a psychiatrist at the Parappana Agrahara prison, assistant sub inspector Chand Pasha, and Anees Fathima—mother of Junaid Ahmed, an accused in the 2023 prison radicalisation case who is at large.
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During the searches, the NIA found various digital devices, cash, gold and incriminating documents from the houses of the suspects.
According to the NIA press release, the case (RC-28/2023/NIA/DLI) also involved the recovery of arms, ammunition, explosives and digital devices—including two walkie-talkies—from habitual offenders who were conspiring to unleash terror activities in Bengaluru city with the aim of furthering the nefarious agenda of the proscribed terrorist organisation LeT.
As part of the conspiracy, Dr Nagaraj was smuggling mobile phones for use by prison inmates including Tadiyandaveed Naseer (alias T. Naseer), a life-time convict lodged in terror cases in Central Prison, Bengaluru, along with his assistant, Pavithra.
Pasha reportedly leaked details about Naseer’s court transfers in exchange for money, while Anees Fathima was involved in passing instructions from Naseer to her son for raising funds and handing over the same to Naseer in prison.
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In July 2023, the Bengaluru CCB had seized seven pistols, four grenades, and four walkie-talkies. The NIA, which took over the investigation of the case, filed a chargesheet against the nine accused.
Who is T. Naseer?
Tadiyandaveed Naseer, a life-sentence convict originally from Kerala’s Kannur district, has been lodged in Bengaluru’s Central Prison since 2013, after he was was identified as a key figure and the South Indian commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), who orchestrated the Bengaluru blasts.
He was implicated in the 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts: nine bomb blasts across Bengaluru city that killed one and injured 20 others. Covert surveillance by an anti-terror squad found him hiding as a farmer in Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka, under a false identity cultivating ginger.
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In December 2009, he was arrested near the Bangladesh border by Indian forces and he confessed to coordinating the blasts, providing crucial links that helped crack down on related networks.
In 2013, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in planning and executing those bombings.
Around 2017, Naseer began radicalising fellow inmates—including Junaid Ahmed, Salman Khan (arrested under POCSO), Syed Suhail, Mohammed Umar, Zahid Tabrez, Syed Mudassir Pasha, Mohammed Faisal Rabbani, and Vikram Kumar—after arranging for them to be moved into the same barrack.
He assessed their potential, and indoctrinated them with extremist ideology to recruit them into LeT. On their release, the recruits were to carry out fidayeen-style (suicide) attacks, smuggle arms, grenades, and walkie-talkies inside prison and perhaps help Naseer escape during his court transfers.
Once free, Junaid and Salman continued the plot, Junaid allegedly fled abroad, and managed finances for the remaining jail inmates.
In January 2024, the NIA filed charges against eight accused including Naseer, Junaid and Salman, on charges under IPC, UAPA, Arms Act, and Explosive Substances Act, and a ninth accused (Vikram Kumar) was added to the chargesheet a year later.
Soon after the arrests, the BJP had alleged that the prison and the police insiders were also guilty of facilitating the terror network.
BJP MLA Sunil Kumar slammed the state government alleging total collapse of law and order in the state.
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“The NIA raids have exposed the law and order situation and the inefficiency of the Home department. It is not just alarming but reflective of the Congress government’s soft corner for terror, as an ASI and prison staff are colluding with international terrorists and quietly supporting extremist activities. Even as the Home department staff were assisting terrorists lodged in the jail, the anti-terror squad munching snacks. It is a shame that such incidents are happening right under the nose of the chief minister and home minister, while the state police remain mum and inactive,” said Kumar, urging the government to have sense of responsibility.
“Don’t let the future of the state suffer amid your power tussle for the CM’s chair,” he warned.
India