Updated December 22nd, 2020 at 20:00 IST

Kerala: NIA conducts raids in search of accused with links to Syria-based terror outfit

In a bid to nab a fugitive accused of having ties with an international terrorist organization, the NIA conducted raids across 7 locations in Kerala on Tuesday

Reported by: Jitesh Vachhatani
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In a bid to nab a fugitive accused of having ties with an international terrorist organization, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducted raids across 7 locations in Kerala's Thrissur and Kozhikode districts on Tuesday evening. The wanted fugitive is believed to have links with Jund Al Aqsa based in Syria. A case had been registered against the accused by the NIA in January 2019 under sections 120B and 125 of the IPC and the UAPA as well. 

The suo-motu case had named Muhammed Irfan, a native of Kannur district, Kerala, Thaha Mohammed, native of Shimoga district, Karnataka, Sultan Abdulla, a native of Kozhikode district, Kerala and Fayez Farooq, a native of Thrissur district, Kerala. All the accused had allegedly conducted preparations or travelled to Syria from 2013 onwards and had joined the proscribed terrorist organizations Jund AL Aqsa or Jabhat AL Nusrah, the NIA said in a statement. 

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In the raids conducted on Tuesday evening, residences of Mohammed Faaz, Mohammed Ihthisham, Abdul Sameeh, Rayees Rehiman, Nabeel Mohammed, Mohamed Shaheen and Mohammed Ameer were searched. As per the NIA investigation, all the aforementioned persons were in Qatar till early 2019 and maintained contact with Sidhikul Akbar and had provided funds to the fugitive, based in Syria. During searches, nine mobile phones, fifteen SIM cards, one iPad, six laptops, three memory cards and various documents have been seized, the NIA said. 

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NIA arrests 9 terrorists

Previously in September, the NIA had arrested 9 Al Qaeda terrorists as it conducted raids in Kerala and West Bengal. The raids were conducted in West Bengal's Murshidabad and Kerala's Ernakulam. "NIA had learnt about an inter-state module of Al-Qaeda operatives at various locations in India, including West-Bengal and Kerala. The group was planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations in India with an aim to kill innocent people and strike terror," an official statement by the probe agency read. While six terrorists were arrested from Bengal, three terrorists were arrested from Kerala in the early morning raids. 

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Published December 22nd, 2020 at 20:00 IST