Charity as a cover for terror: The Al-Hind link to the Bengaluru riots

New Delhi, Aug 18: The Bengaluru police detained a suspect in connection with the recent violence that broke out in the city over a controversial Facebook post.

The person was identified as Samiuddin and the police have accused him of being in touch with the accused in the RSS activist, Rudresh murder case. He has also been accused of being in contact with the members of the Al-Hind group since the past five years.

The presence of the Al-Hind has been spoken about several times in the past. Karnataka's Home Minister, Basavaraj Bommai had also spoken on the presence of the group in the state.

In the month of January this year, there was a coordinated action carried out by the Bengaluru, Tamil Nadu and Delhi Police. It was found that a person by the name Hussain Sharif had provided shelter to Shameen and Thoufiq, who are accused of killing special sub-inspector, Wilson in a revenge attack in Tamil Nadu.

It was then found that this Al-Hindi Trust was just a front to carry out terror attacks. To the outside world, it seemed like a charity group, officers investigating this case tell OneIndia. The original motive of this group was concealed for long due to the kind of modus operandi that they followed. The only intention was to carry out violent jihad.

Investigations revealed that the trust had opened up various branches in Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu and were actively collecting funds in the name of charity. The funds collected were being used for various purposes such as recruitment, targeting right wing activists and also instigating riots.

In this context one must also look into the chargesheet filed by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the formation of a terror group initiated by two terrorists from Bengaluru and Cuddalore.

The NIA in its chargesheet said that the conspirators who formed the terror group are ISIS cadres, Mehboob Pasha from Bengaluru and Khaja Moideen of Cuddalore. The case was originally registered by the Bengaluru police.

The case relates to Pasha, a resident of Bengaluru, who in association with Moideen and Sadiq Basha, formed a terror group for spreading the ideology and activities of the ISIS.

The NIA accused them of conspiring with other persons at the houses and Al-Hind offices of Pasha in Bengaluru and Cuddalore. It was further stated that the conspiracy was hatched in 2019 and the other accused persons were planning on carrying out attacks in South India.

Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that this group is modelled largely on the lines of the Falah-e-Insaniyat, which is the charity wing of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. The FeI too uses charity as a cover to raise funds for terror. It was found last year that a module of the FeI had raised money and funded a Mosque in Haryana, which in turn was using the money to radicalise youth.