BENGALURU: THE National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken into custody five terror suspects, including a person who was intercepted at the Mangaluru International Airport in 2016, in connection with their attempts to join the terror outfit ISIS in Syria. The accused are Midlaj (26), Abdul Rasak K V (34), Rashid M V (24), Manaf Rahman (42) and Hamza U K (57), all residents of Kannur. They will be in NIA custody till January 19.
Manaf Rahman was intercepted at Mangalore International Airport on December 23, 2016, when he attempted to travel along with his family to the UAE, allegedly with the intention of travelling to Syria to join ISIS. He was influenced by Hamza U K, who was also supposed to travel to the UAE on December 25, 2016, and had booked air ticket accordingly. But he dropped the plan after finding out that Manaf Rahman was intercepted at Mangalore airport.
The investigation hitherto has revealed that Midlaj and Rashid had travelled along with one Shajahan V K to Turkey in October, 2016, with the intention of crossing over to Syria, but were apprehended by the Turkish authorities and deported to India in January, 2017. Further, Abdul Razak had travelled to Turkey through Tehran, Iran, along with one Abdul Khayoom of Kannur in mid-April, 2017. Shajahan had again reached Turkey in April/May, 2017, using a fake Indian passport as part of his second attempt to migrate to Syria and join the ISIS.
Subsequently, Abdul Razak and Shajahan were apprehended by Turkish authorities when they attempted to cross over to Syria. They were deported to India on July 1, 2017. Abdul Khayoom managed to cross over to Syria and join the Islamic State.
Police sources in Karnataka said Manaf Rahman had made an attempt to fly from Mangaluru airport earlier but was sent back. Since then, he was under the surveillance of intelligence agencies before he was caught at the same airport. The NIA had registered the case against these terror suspects in December 2017.