First UAPA case registered in Sikkim, one youth arrested in Gangtok

ISABELLA GURUNG

GANGTOK,: The first case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, has been reported in Sikkim after a 19-year-old man was arrested by Sadar Police, Gangtok, on suspicion of circulating propaganda for a banned terrorist organisation and promoting communal disharmony.

Md. Arju, born in Bhagalpur, Bihar, and raised in Gangtok, was arrested from his residence at Nam Nam, Gangtok, on June 13 after confidential information was received at Sadar Police Station that the terrorist organisation, under the name of Islamic State, had hatched a conspiracy in cyberspace to influence Indian Muslim adolescents and youth by propagating material related to the organisation's extremist ideology and involving them in terrorist activities against the Indian State.

To execute this objective, groups had allegedly been created on social media platforms such as WhatsApp and Instagram under the name 'Islamic State', using pseudo online identities operated through local youths. These groups were allegedly being used to propagate the organisation's extremist ideology and circulate material related to recruitment into the Islamic State. The accused had reportedly been involved in consuming and propagating material related to the Islamic State.

Upon investigation, the accused was allegedly found to have been circulating Islamic State propaganda while also indulging in other anti-national activities and terrorist funding, as per sources.

Initially, six individuals were detained along with their electronic devices, including mobile phones, a laptop, an iPad, and pen drives, from their residence at Nam Nam.

When Arju’s mobile phone was examined, he was allegedly found to be in contact with Pakistan-based handlers and was an active participant in social media groups and platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), Telegram, and Instagram, which were centred on themes related to the Islamic State.

During the preliminary enquiry, no evidence was found against the other five men who had been detained.

Md. Arju was arrested on June 13 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, and the Information Technology Act, 2000, sources informed.

The case is under investigation, and the accused is currently in judicial custody, it was informed.