Continuing its action on ISIS modules in India, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out search operations in 11 places in Kerala, Karnataka and Delhi and arrested at least five individuals owing allegiance to ISIS, including one woman, for their attempt to radicalise and recruit youths to propagate violence. As per NIA officials, the members of this module were recruiting new members through different social media apps and platforms like Telegram, Hoop and Instagram.
The NIA has registered a case against seven known and other unknown accused persons under Sections 120B, 121 & 121A of IPC & Sections 17, 18, 18B, 20, 38 & 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
After this FIR, the total ISIS related case that the NIA is investigating stands at 26. The FIR in the present case was registered on 5 March.
Of the 11 locations where the NIA carried out the raids, eight of them were in Kerala spread across Kannur, Mallapuram, Kollam and Kasargod districts, two locations in Bengaluru, Karnataka and one location in Delhi. In Delhi, sources said, the raid was carried at the Jaffarabad area of North-East Delhi. The place had witnessed a similar raid in December 2018 when the NIA had busted another ISIS module.
As per initial investigations, the module was being led by Mohammed Ameen @ Abu Yahya. The module had, as per the investigations, identified certain individuals in Kerala and Karnataka for targeted killing in the near future.
Ameen, who had returned from Bahrain in March last year, had travelled to Jammu and Kashmir and had been camping in Delhi for the last two months for establishing connection with J&K based operatives having allegiance to ISIS.
They had also planned to undertake Hijrat (religious migration) to J&K for engaging in terrorist acts.
Incriminating proof, including digital devices like laptops, mobiles, hard disk drives, pen drives, multiple SIM cards, that as per NIA officials, prove the plans of the accused have been seized in the raid which was a joint operation done by the NIA, Special Cell of Delhi Police, Anti-terror squad, Kerala.
The electronic proof that has been initialised by the NIA indicates that the alleged accused were in touch with individuals based in Pakistan and taking instructions regarding how and when to execute their plan.