7 men were arrested in Hyderabad by NIA on charges that they were linked to ISIS
Towards the end of June, 7 men were arrested in Hyderabad by the National Investigation Agency on charges that they were part of an ISIS plot to stage attacks in India.
NDTV gained exclusive access to statements of 5 of the 7 men, which throws up new and disturbing aspects of the reach of ISIS, particularly its ability to organise weapons and explosives across at least 3 Indian states for its recruits.
Witness statements have no evidentiary value in court, but the NIA says that the statements are corroborated by a trove of digital records, seizures of weapons, ammunition and precursor explosives, as well as witness statements.
According to the NIA, the central figure is a 31-year-old engineer, Ibrahim Yazdani, from Hyderabad's Old City, who was drawn to ISIS first when he was working in Saudi Arabia.
In his detailed statement Ibrahim says he was in touch with an online handler named Abu Isa Al Amriki, who urged him to travel to Syria. But several attempts to apply for a visa failed, and he was asked by the handler to stay back in India, form a group with men of similar bent and conduct attacks.
The first step, according to statements studied by NDTV of 5 of the men who would become that group, was to transmit an oath of allegiance, or a Bayah, to the ISIS' Emir, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. (The NIA claims they have managed to decrypt the software and access the oath, which bears signatures of all seven.)
Ibrahim and Ilyas' brother Ishaq Yazdani says that the cases on his brothers are fabricated
Ibrahim's statement details the handlers instructions on how to upload the oath - through encrypted software like Gulfup and Tutanota - and then to delete all physical and digital records.
But what came next seems to set this group apart from previous such arrests. The handler according to Ibrahim and Habeeb, a computer repairman, sends them to collect weapons from Nanded in Maharashtra, from a pre-decided location.
Ibrahim describes how a polythene bag was hung on a tree near airport compound wall as a marker, and a bag with 2 pistols and 20 rounds was hidden in bushes nearby.
When the guns were found to be faulty, the handler asked them to make a second trip, this time to Ajmer in Rajasthan, for collecting weapons.
The next step was to access to explosives, for which the group didn't have to travel far.
According to Ibrahim and Habeeb, the handler organised a sack of sugar and ammonium nitrate to be picked up about 50 kms from Hyderabad from the town Boodhan Pochampally. Later, he directed them how to make a homemade explosive.
According to Ibrahim, the new handler sounded north Indian, perhaps from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar as he used phrases like "
Mai Batata Hu -
Kehta hu -
Aap Ko Ye Karna Hoga" , "
Ha Mujhe Mil Chuki Hai".
The families of all the accused, however, deny these charges. Ibrahim and Ilyas' brother Ishaq Yazdani says that the cases on his brothers are fabricated. He said that Ibrahim is an educated man and "made no contact with the ISIS".
The credibility of the NIA's evidence will be tested in court, but the agency's findings, so far, suggests the presence of a deeper ISIS network in India than previously imagined.
(For more, watch Truth vs Hype: The ISIS Diaries. 9:30pm on Saturday and 7:30pm on Sunday, NDTV 24x7)