The Delhi High Court has rejected the bail plea of Arsalan Feroze Ahenger, an alleged member of the terror outfit “The Resistance Front” (TRF), citing strong evidence of his association with terrorist elements and the potential risk of tampering with evidence.
A division bench comprising Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, in its order dated July 7, upheld the trial court’s September 2024 decision denying bail to Ahenger, who was arrested on December 30, 2021.
The bench found sufficient material to suggest Ahenger’s close ties with slain TRF terrorist Mehran Yaseen Shalla, stating, “It cannot be said that there is no evidence against the appellant that he was closely associated with slain terrorist Mehran Yaseen Shalla or that he has actively participated in terrorist activities himself.”
According to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Ahenger, said to be in his early twenties, was digitally active on multiple social media platforms, where he propagated radical content, glorified terrorism, and incited youth to join extremist outfits like TRF. The agency claimed he created and managed online groups such as Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind and Shaikoo Naikoo, through which he spread extremist ideology and sought to recruit vulnerable youth.
The NIA also linked Ahenger’s alleged activities to broader conspiracies hatched by Pakistan-based terror organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and TRF in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. These conspiracies, it said, aimed to destabilise the region through targeted attacks on minorities, security forces, political figures, and other key individuals.
Ahenger’s counsel argued there was no concrete evidence linking him to TRF and that the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) was wrongly invoked. However, the court rejected this contention, citing evidence of Ahenger’s use of images, videos, and messages to glorify slain terrorists and radicalise others.
“The material on record indicates that the messages shared by the appellant have the tendency to incite people to join terrorist activities. The appellant has also been propagating the radical ideology of TRF to create unrest within the country,” the bench noted.
The court concluded that Ahenger’s conduct amounted to abetment and incitement of terrorist acts under Section 18 of the UAPA, and therefore, his continued detention was justified in the interest of national security.
