NIA chargesheets man for sharing inflammatory messages in retaliation to Operation Sindoor

New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI) The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has chargesheeted a man involved in "cyber terrorism" and for sharing inflammatory messages in retaliation to India's Operation Sindoor against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, an official statement said on Thursday.
    The chargesheet was filed before a court in Ahmedabad against Jasim Shahnawaz Ansari in the case relating to acts of cyber terrorism through Denial of Service (DoS) attacks on websites of critical government infrastructure, it said.
    The case was initially registered by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Gujarat, after uncovering a conspiracy between a Juvenile in Conflict with Law (JCL) and the accused to launch multiple Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks on various Central and state government websites between March and May, the NIA statement said.
    The accused also posted anti-national content on a Telegram channel, it said.
    Following orders from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the case was re-registered by the NIA, Ahmedabad.
    NIA’s investigation revealed that the accused, in coordination with the JCL, used advanced hacking tools, anonymising technologies (including VPNs), and encrypted platforms to execute the attacks, the statement said.
    "The accused publicised these attacks online, sharing screenshots and inflammatory messages in retaliation to India’s 'Operation Sindoor' against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, with the intent to threaten the country’s unity, integrity, and sovereignty," the probe agency said.
    Digital forensic analysis confirmed the accused’s role in orchestrating a planned and ideologically-motivated cyber offensive, coupled with his efforts to train others in unlawful cyber techniques while concealing the identities to evade law enforcement, it said.
    In continuation of proceedings against the JCL before the Juvenile Justice Board, Nadiad, Gujarat, the NIA has now filed a chargesheet against Ansari, the statement said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)