NIA conducts searches in MP, Rajasthan to probe terror conspiracy by banned outfit to radicalise Muslim youth

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday conducted searches in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to probe a terror conspiracy by the banned outfit Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HuT) to radicalise Muslim youth, officials said.

Three locations were extensively searched in Bhopal and two at Jhalawar in Rajasthan as part of the agency's continuing probe into the activities of HuT and its members, they said.

The searches were part a case registered by the NIA as part of its efforts to destroy various terrorist and radical networks and outfits trying to spread mayhem across India, that relates to an HuT conspiracy to radicalise and recruit vulnerable Muslim youth, according to a statement issued by the probe agency.

"The youth were being motivated to spread violence in a bid to overthrow India's democratically-elected government and establish an Islamic State governed by Shariah law," it said.

The NIA teams seized digital devices during the searches, which will be sent for forensic analysis, the statement said.