NIA filed first chargesheet against IM operatives on July 17

Nailing the Indian Mujahideen (IM) and its operatives for continuously plotting terror operations in the country, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had on July 17 filed its first chargesheet in court laying bare the outfit’s modest origins in 2003 to present pan-Indian penetration.

Though, the IM’s top leaders — Iqbal Bhatkal, Riyaz Bhatkal, Yasin Bhatkal, Asadullah Akhtar Haddi, Ariz Khan and Tehseen Akhtar were not named in the chargesheet, their roles in the growth of the outfit were mentioned, said sources.

Of the five terror operatives charged by the NIA, two were from Bihar — Mohammad Danish Ansari alias Waheb (Darbhanga) and Mohammad Aftab Alam alias Farooq (Purnea); two from Maharashtra — Imran Khan alias Zakaria (Nanded) and Syed Maqbool alias Zubair (Nanded); and the fifth, Obaid ur Rehman, from Hyderabad.