Mumbai: A former engineering student, who had allegedly joined terror outfit ISIS at Fallujah in Iraq in 2014 was charged today by an anti-terror court with the commission of various terrorist acts and penal offences.
Special NIA court framed charges against 26-year-old Areeb Majeed under section 16 and 18 of the anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act allegedly for committing various terror acts and conspiring for committing them.
Special Judge V V Patil also charged him with waging war against any Asiatic power in alliance with the Government of India under section 125 of the Indian Penal Code.
The court framed charges against Majeed after he pleaded “not guilty” and claimed trial on the allegations against him.
Majeed, a resident of Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district, was arrested after he landed in Mumbai from Turkey on November 28, 2014. He was then 23.
He was first detained by the security agencies and later arrested after grilling by the intelligence agencies and a case under various sections of the UAPA and section 125 of the IPC was registered against ISIS, Areeb and three others.
According to the police, these four engineering students had flown to Baghdad on May 23, 2014 with a group of 22 pilgrims to visit religious shrines in Iraq. After returning to India, other pilgrims told police that Areeb, Fahad, Aman and Shaheen had gone to Fallujah.
On August 26, 2014, Shaheen Tanki had called up Areeb’s family and told them that their son had become a ‘martyr’ while fighting for ISIS in Syria.
Areeb’s family had even performed ‘Janaza-e-gayabana’ (prayers for the departed soul in absence of the body) in Kalyan.
In February this year, the court had dropped section 20 of the UAPA Act (being the member of terrorist outfit), stating that ISIS was not declared a terror organisation before February 16, 2015, (when the case was registered), hence the charge against the accused for commission of an offence punishable under section 20 of UAP Act cannot be framed.