National Investigation Agency, on Thursday, filed a chargesheet against 29 year old Yasmeen Mohammad Zahid — the first woman from India to be charged with ISIS links. She is the daughter of Mohammed Zahid, resident of Delhi and originally hailing from Bihar. The agency has charged her for being part of a criminal conspiracy hatched within and outside India by certain youths, originally hailing from Kasaragod district of Kerala, "with the intention of furthering the objectives of the proscribed terrorist organization, ISIS, and their pursuant exit from India along with their families for joining and supporting the organisation."
THE WEEK had first reported in the previous week that the NIA was preparing to chargesheet Yasmin as it had found sufficient evidence against her in a conspiracy case related to missing youth from Kerala, who defected to ISIS.
Yasmin has been chargesheeted along with 30 year old Abdul Rashid Abdulla @ Rashi, son of Thayyalpurali Abdullah, originally the resident of Al Noor under Chandera Police Station, Kasaragod district of Kerala. Both have been chargesheeted under various sections of IPC and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) before the NIA special court in Ernakulam.
It may be recalled that the case was originally registered as an FIR in Kasargod, under section 57 of Kerala Police Act, apart from sections 38 and 39 of the UA (P) Act, and was re-registered at NIA Police Station in Kochi on August 24 last year.
Investigation by the NIA has established that the accused Abdul Rashid was the main conspirator behind the offence of motivating a number of youths, hailing from Kasaragod district, to exit India along with their families and join the Islamic State, says the NIA in its chargesheet.
"He had conducted classes at Kasaragod and other places in support of the terrorist organization and its ideology of violent jihad. He motivated another set of 14 co-conspirators, including another arrested accused Yasmin Mohammed Zahid, to join the proscribed organization and plan for Hijrah to the Caliphate announced by the ISIS," says the NIA.
The investigation has revealed that the conspiracy had been in operation since the month of July 2015. The accused Yasmin Mohammed Zahid was intercepted at the New Delhi international airport on the July 30 last year while she was trying to exit India for Kabul, Afghanistan, along with her minor child. She defected with the intention of joining her co-conspirator Abdul Rashid in the territory under the control of ISIS in Afghanistan.
"Investigation has established that Abdul Rashid had raised funds for the terrorist organization and transferred such funds to Yasmeen, who utilized it for her activities with the intention of supporting the terrorist organization," says the NIA chargesheet.
NIA officials said efforts were on to locate and apprehend the absconding accused, including the charge-sheeted accused Abdul Rashid who have joined the ISIS.
