VIJAYAWADA: Sleuths of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out another round of searches in Vijayawada on Wednesday as part of its probe into an alleged terror links case.
The NIA raids began around 5 am, and continued through the day at Vinchipeta, Bhavanipuram and Mahantipuram under the Kothapet police station limits.
The NIA conducted searches at a house near Gandhi Bomma Centre in Vinchipeta, and at other premises linked to suspects. Three special NIA teams reportedly examined documents, electronic devices and digital evidence believed to be connected to the case. The raids are aimed at identifying the associates of the three main accused who were arrested in Vijayawada this year.
Mohammad Rahmatullah Sharif, a driver from Vinchipeta, was found to be promoting jihadi content through social media platforms, and was arrested by Kothapet police on March 22. It was found that he, along with Mohammad Danish from Bhavanipuram and Mirza Sohail from Mahantipuram, had planned terrorist activities.
NIA searches in Vijayawada may provide key info on terror network
Later, the case was transferred to the NIA. Investigators are now examining whether the accused had associates in Andhra Pradesh or elsewhere in the country and the extent of the alleged network.
Authorities believe the latest searches in Vijayawada could provide crucial leads, and help uncover additional links in the ongoing investigation.
Meanwhile, the NIA said various teams conducted nation-wide searches in a case of online terror radicalisation aimed at establishing an Islamic State in India through violent jihad against the democratically elected government by promoting the ideology of ISIS and AQIS terrorist organisations. About 20 locations were searched in a coordinated action by NIA teams in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat and the UT of Delhi, as part of the ongoing investigation in the case RC-01/2026/NIA/VSKP.
“The searches led to the seizure of several digital devices, which will be forensically examined for further clues into the radicalisation conspiracy. It may be recalled that as many as 11 accused and one juvenile have so far been arrested in the case, which NIA had taken over from Vijayawada police in May this year,” according to the NIA release.
Vijayawada police registered the case in March and carried out searches at the residence of key accused Rehmatullah that resulted in the recovery of incriminating materials related to the banned terrorist organisations AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent) and ISIS (Islamic State). During the investigation, the NIA found that all the accused had created social media groups under the name “Al Malik Youth Islamic Committee” (AMYIC) and circulated jihadi videos.