NIA to probe terror attack on a Gurdwara in Kabul
The NIA on Wednesday registered its first overseas case and will probe the terror strike on a gurdwara in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul last month that left 27 people including an Indian citizen dead.
An amendment of the NIA Act which came into effect in August last year has vested the agency with the power to probe terrorist activities against Indians and Indian interests abroad.
Key Highlights
- The NIA registered the case under various sections of IPC including 125 (waging war against a friendly country).
- Provisions of anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, were also invoked in the FIR registered by the NIA, an official spokesman said.
- According to the FIR, unknown gunmen stormed into the gurdwara in Shor Bazar area of Kabul on March 25 and fired indiscriminately killing 27 devotees and injuring several others.
- Nearly 150 people were inside the gurdwara when the attack took place.
- Tian Singh, a resident of Greater Kailash Part-1 in New Delhi, was also killed in the attack whose responsibility was claimed by the banned Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), an offshoot of ISIS.
- The spokesman said that according to preliminary investigation, Mohammed Muhsin (28), a resident of Thrikaripur town in Kerala’s Kasargod district, and others who had joined ISKP, are suspected to have been involved in the attack.
- Muhsin went to the UAE in 2018 from where he is believed to have joined the ranks with the global terror organisation in Afghanistan, officials said.
- His identity was established after an Islamic state publication posted his picture identifying him with his Arabic name, Abu Khalid al-Hindi, the officials said.
- The central agencies with the help of local police reached out to the accused’s family, who identified him to be Muhsin from the published picture which had ISIS flag in the background, they said.
About Kabul Gurdwara Attack
On 25 March 2020, Suicide bombers and assailants armed with guns attacked the Gurdwara Har Rai Sahib (Sikh shrine) in Kabul, Afghanistan. About 200 worshipers were reported to have been in the building, in which 25 Sikh worshippers were killed and leaving at least 8 wounded after an hour-long siege which ended in all assailants being killed by responding security forces.At least one child was said to have been among people who were killed, according to the ministry of interior’s statement.The Islamic extremist and militant organization Islamic State of Iran and Levant (ISIL) has claimed responsibility. One of the gunmen was identified as Abu Khalid al-Hindi, an Indian citizen from Kerala.
SOURCE: The Indian Express
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