Latest news with #RejazMSheebaSydeek
The Print
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Arrested student activist-scribe was using dark web for anti-national activities: Maharashtra ATS
Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek (26) was arrested by Lakadganj police on May 7 from a hotel here after his online activities were placed under surveillance. The dark web is a part of the internet that is not indexed by standard search engines and can only be accessed through specific software. It provides users with anonymity and is often associated with illegal activities, including drug trafficking and data breaches. Nagpur, May 19 (PTI) The student activist-cum-journalist arrested earlier this month in Nagpur was allegedly using the dark web to post inflammatory comments and for other anti-national activities, a Maharashtra ATS official said on Monday. He has been booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions for allegedly preparing to wage war against the country and supporting terror outfits, the official from the Nagpur unit of ATS said. 'His house in Kerala was raided on May 11, which led to recovery of incriminating documents. A preliminary scan of the digital devices belonging to him showed he was active on the dark web. He was making inflammatory comments and posting his ideas,' he said. The Anti Terrorism Squad will send the digital devices to the cyber-forensic laboratory for in-depth investigation, the official added. The official also said Sydeek's police custody was extended by two days by a local court on Sunday. His online activities include provocative posts and an image showing him holding a firearm after a visit to a rifle shop here, following which he was booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 149 (preparing to wage war against the Government of India), 192 (provocation with intent to cause riots), 351 (criminal intimidation) and 353 (statements conducive to public mischief). After a probe, sections 38 and 39 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act dealing with membership of terrorist organisation and providing support to such outfits were added in the case, which was then transferred from Lakadganj police to ATS, he said. PTI COR BNM This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Indian Express
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘At primitive stage': Bombay HC refuses to interfere with suspension of law student for post on Operation Sindoor
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court earlier this week refused to immediately interfere in the plea of a woman law student, who was suspended by Symbiosis Law School (SLS) over a social media post on 'Operation Sindoor'. After SLS, Nagpur submitted that special examination will be held for the petitioner if she is exonerated, the HC directed it to conduct and complete the enquiry by May 25 and communicate the decision to the petitioner on that day itself. The 22-year-old petitioner was allegedly found present at Lakadganj area in Nagpur with 26-year-old student activist and freelance journalist from Kerala, Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek, who was arrested on charges of 'preparing to wage war against the government'. While Sydeek was taken into custody on May 8, the woman was detained for questioning and later allowed to go. Sydeek has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and provisions of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) by the Nagpur police. ATS has taken over the probe. Subsequently, SLS on May 10 suspended the final-year law student from academic and non-academic activities till further orders. She was debarred from appearing in internal, semesters and backlog examinations during the suspension period. The Campus Disciplinary Committee (CDC) on May 13 passed an order continuing the suspension of the petitioner till further orders. 'I am of the prima facie view that the action of respondent SLS, Nagpur is not punitive, but, administrative in nature in view of the rider which is provided in the order/decision dated May 13, 2025, that additional special examination will be conducted for the petitioner if she is exonerated in the disciplinary proceeding,' a vacation bench of Justice Rohit W Joshi noted in its May 14 order. The petitioner through advocate S Kulkarni argued that the suspension and debarment from academic activities and examinations was a 'punishment' and the petitioner was being made 'scapegoat' in the matter. Advocate K P Mahalle for SLS submitted that various posts on her Instagram handle appeared to be 'political in nature' and one of them appeared to be 'contrary to the government's stand on 'Operation Sindoor'.' Justice Joshi observed that the 'matter is at a very primitive stage' and 'all the facts are yet to come on record'. 'Suspension pending enquiry is not punishment, but an administrative action,' the judge added.
Indian Express
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Kerala student activist Rejaz Sydeek booked under UAPA
Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek, a student activist and independent journalist from Kerala, arrested from Nagpur last week has now been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) by the Nagpur Police. The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Maharashtra has been granted further custody of Sydeek till 18th May. Special Inspector General of Police Sandeep Patil, who heads the Anti-Naxal Operations (ANO), informed that Sydeek has been booked under Sections 38 (member of a banned organisation) and 39 (supporting a banned organisation) of the UAPA. Sydeek, along with a female friend, was arrested on May 8 from a hotel in Nagpur. During the probe, police had found that Sydeek had posted against Operation Sindoor and Operation Kagaar (anti-Maoist operation) on social media platforms and raised anti-India slogans. According to officials, preliminary investigation suggests that Rejaz also has connections with Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)—the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. However, the forensic analysis of his phone call records is underway, and the claim can be confirmed only after the analysis is completed, said police. The Maharashtra police had also conducted a search at the Kochi residence of Sydeek, assisted by the Anti-Terrorist Squad of Kerala police. Sydeek had earlier been booked under Sections 149 (preparing to wage war against the government of India), 192 (giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 351 (criminal intimidation), and 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) among other provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. His female friend, Isha Priya Kumari—a law student hailing from Patna—was detained for a day and then let go.
India Today
09-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Kerala activist held for ‘preparing to wage war against Indian government'
A student activist and self-described independent journalist from Kerala was arrested in Nagpur, Maharashtra, for allegedly 'preparing to wage war against the government of India', an official said on Thursday.A resident of Kerala's Ernakulam district, 26-year-old Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek was taken into custody on Wednesday. His woman friend, who resides in Nagpur as a paying guest, was also arrested separately, though the police did not specify the exact charges against to the First Information Report (FIR) registered at Lakadganj police station, Sydeek had made social media posts on Instagram condemning Operation Sindoor, the recent strike by Indian Armed Forces on terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and also criticised counterinsurgency operations against Naxals. He was booked under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, including section 149 (preparing to wage war against the government of India), section 192 (giving provocation with intent to cause riot), section 351 (criminal intimidation), and section 353 (statements conducing to public mischief).Police claim that Sydeek was carrying material that allegedly raised suspicions about his intentions. His bag reportedly contained a book on Professor GN Saibaba, who had previously been tried for alleged links to Naxalism, and another book on Marxism-Leninism. The FIR also noted that a letter found in English among his possessions appeared to criticise the Indian government's anti-Naxal operations and called for 'peace talks between the Indian state and the (banned) CPI (Maoist)'.advertisementNiharika Pradaush, a Kerala state committee member of the Democratic Students Association, to which Sydeek is affiliated, told news agency PTI that he was in Nagpur to visit a friend on his way back to Kerala from Delhi. She stated that he had travelled to Delhi to attend a press conference organised by activists seeking the release of incarcerated journalists in further said that Sydeek contributes as a writer to platforms such as 'Maktoob Media' and 'The Observer Post', and focuses on issues including caste discrimination, communal violence, state repression, and the rights of marginalised Maktoob Media's X handle was reportedly withheld in India 'in response to a legal demand'. The social media platform on Thursday said that it received executive orders from the Government of India that over 8,000 accounts were to be blocked within India. Maktoob Media was allegedly one among those. IN THIS STORY#Kerala#Maharashtra
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Maoist sympathizer held with GF in city after Insta post criticised Op Sindoor
1 2 3 Nagpur: A top Maoist sympathizer based in Kerala was picked up from a central Nagpur hotel at Marwadi Chowk on Thursday, with intelligence agencies and city police jointly collaborating on his dramatic arrest. He was found closeted with his girlfriend, a student of a reputed Nagpur college. Charged with waging war against India, his arrest followed an objectionable Instagram post, where he brandished two guns in each hand and criticised ' Operation Sindoor '. Rejaz M Sheeba Sydeek , president of Democratic Students Union , Kerala chapter, was mobilising funds, preparing propaganda material, and gearing up to publish a journal — 'Nazariya' — in support of a nationwide campaign to pressurize the govt to call truce with Maoists. Operation Sindoor Operation Sindoor: Several airports in India closed - check full list Did Pak shoot down Indian jets? What MEA said India foils Pakistan's attack on Jammu airport: What we know so far Masquerading as a student activist and journalist, Sydeek was a key urban Maoist operative who was entrusted with forming covert student groups in educational institutions and spreading the anti-govt ideology of the banned CPI (Maoist), said a senior security officer. Sydeek, who was earlier quizzed by Kerala ATS for his pro-Hamas campaign, was remanded in police custody for five days."Sydeek was networking with many city-based frontal leaders and elsewhere in India, including Delhi. He was also part of the Committee Against State Repression (CASR), which criticises every action carried out by the govt," said the source. Sydeek was arrested by a crime branch team led by senior inspector Kamlakar Gaddime, under the supervision of CP Ravinder sources said, Sydeek was also part of the Maoists' nationwide urban network to build strong consensus against security forces' 'Operation Kagar' which is underway to regain central India's hinterlands of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Odisha, which were earlier controlled by the guerrillas' jantana sarkar (people's governance).Three books on banned Maoist ideology, including one on late ideologue GN Saibaba were seized from him, pointing to Sydeek's preparation to compile literature condemning the operations in Karregutta hills, which was once a Maoist citadel but is now being recaptured by security forces. Police came across literature — 'Stop Encirclement of Karregutta' — in Sydeek's possession. Another document, titled 'Operation Kagar to Operation Sindoor', was also seized. The booklet was supposed to spread the propaganda in urban networks for peace talks from 'Delhi to Bastar'.Sydeek was learnt to have reached the city on May 5 to meet his girlfriend, a native of Patna, before checking into the hotel. The two met on Instagram and the woman too is heavily influenced by Maoist ideology, said a police in security agencies stated Sydeek was entrusted with the social media campaigns of Maoist frontal organisations. Sydeek came under the intelligence radar after his posts supporting Maoists and condemning Operation Sindoor became viral. Police were aware of his occasional forays to the city and they waited for him to return, before zeroing in on to a source, Sydeek went to a firearms outlet at Gandhibagh and shot a picture of himself holding guns in each hand, captioning it with the phrase 'to defend and to resist'. He then used a picture of a wounded child to question the Indian army on the propriety of the strikes.
