Delhi HC seeks response from NIA on Rameez Ahmad Lone's bail plea

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court issued notice to National Investigation Agency (NIA) on a plea of Rameez Ahmad Lone on Monday.
Division bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma issued notice to NIA and sought response. The court has listed the matter for hearing on January 15, 2025.
He is alleged cadre of ISIS. His bail plea was dismissed by the trial court on September 28, 2024. He has challenged the order of trial court.
The NIA registered a case in June 2021.
Rameez Ahmad Lone was arrested by NIA on July 11, 2021, along with two ISIS cadres in ISIS Voice of Hind (VOH) case -- Umar Nisar and Tanveer Ahmad Bhat.
The case was registered under sections 124A, 153A, 153B of IPC and sections 17, 18, 18B, 38, 39 &40 of UA(P) Act 1967 in connection with the conspiracy of the proscribed terrorist organization ISIS to radicalize and recruit impressionable youth in India to wage violent jihad against the Indian State.
It was stated by the NIA that ISIS terrorists operating from various conflict zones along with ISIS cadres in India, by assuming pseudo- online identities, have created a network wherein ISIS related propaganda material is disseminated for radicalizing and recruiting members to the fold of ISIS.
It is alleged that an India-Centric online propaganda magazine 'the Voice of Hind' (VOH) is published on monthly basis with an aim to incite and radicalize impressionable youth.
The NIA had earlier conducted searches at the premises of the arrested accused and recovered large number of incriminating documents, multiple digital devices and T-shirts with ISIS logo. Preliminary examination of the seized material and examination of the accused persons revealed that they are active cadres of ISIS and have been using the cyberspace to propagate inciting material by the online magazine (VOH), the agency had said.
The NIA submitted their chargesheet on January 6, 2022 against 11 persons describing their role in crime. Three accused were mentioned as absconding.
It was submitted that the role of Rameez Ahmed lone and Tanveer Ahmed Bhatt became the members of ISIS and took oath and allegiance to practice and follow the ideology and directives of banned terrorist organization in a forest of Pulwama Anantnag, South Kashmir in 2017.
It is submitted that the allegations that Rameez Ahmed Lone used to give shelter to active member and terrorist of banned ISIS in his house at Chak Mohalla, Anantnag does not hold any legal stand because, the prosecution has failed to bring on record the neighbour and adjoining family members as witness on record with their statements to alleged and say that any outsidestranger or terrorist and active members of ISIS were stayed at the house of appellant Rameez Ahmed before his arrest.
Therefore, this allegation of prosecution does not prove their fair investigation, rather the same is tainted and false and does not attract any crime under UA(P) Act against the appellant, the plea said.