A court in Hyderabad granted bail to youths from Maharashtra who were arrested on the charges of being sympathisers of Islamic State (IS). Fourteenth additional chief metropolitan Magistrate Veera Raju ordered the release of Shah Mudassir from Omerkhed and Shoaib Ahmad Khan of Hingoli as the special investigation team probing the case failed to file a chargesheet within in the stipulated time of 90 days.
Hyderabad police had arrested the two youths in October last alleging that they were on their way to Afghanistan to undergo armed training and join Islamic State. Though the counsel for prosecution opposed the bail, the magistrate said that they should be released on bail on two sureties of Rs25,000 each. The magistrate also asked the duo to appear before the investigating authorities whenever required.
Police had claimed that it recovered jehadi literature from the possession of the two youths and they had undergone the training in the use of weapons. Police had also claimed that they were members of proscribed organisation Students Islamic Movement. Police had described another Hyderabadi youth Moatasim Billah as an absconder in the case saying he had asked these youth from Maharashtra to come to Hyderabad for going to Afghanistan. However later Motasim Billah appeared before the media in Hyderabad questioning the police claim that he was no absconding.