KOCHI: The NIA probing the case against Ansar-ul-Khilafah, the Kerala module of the IS, has traced particles of explosives from the clothes recovered from the residence of one of its members.
The particles were found during the forensic examination of the jackets and sweater used by Subahani Haja Moideen, who allegedly fought in the IS-controlled area in Mosul.
While potassium nitrate and potassium chlorate were traced from the leather jacket, potassium nitrate was found in the cotton jackets and sweaters recovered from the residence of Subahani in Thodupuzha.
The clothing were bought from Turkey. The fabric of the sweaters were worn out, which made the investigation team suspect the accused had handled heavy ammunitions.
Subahani moved to Iraq via Turkey to fight for IS in April 2015, but returned after witnessing one of his colleagues die in the offensive firing in Mosul.
He was later shifted to IS prison at Raqqa in Syria before being allowed to travel back to India via Istanbul, Turkey. “The particles of explosives traced from the jackets and sweaters revealed his presence at the war zone,” an NIA officer said.
The NIA has arraigned Thanaloor native Mujeeb Rehman as 15th accused in the case. According to the agency, some of the Telegram groups were coordinated by Mujeeb. He used to post extremist articles on the blog muhajir2015.wordpress.com, which was later stopped by the administrators of the site.
“Mujeeb Rehman was close to Shajeer Mangalasseri, who was the ‘Amir’ of the module. These people conspired and planned to attack Israeli tourists arriving at Vattakanal in Tamil Nadu and a politician in Kozhikode. Mujeeb is currently absconding,” the NIA officer said.
Similarly, two Tamil Nadu natives - who later left the group - initially planned to move to Iraq to take part in ‘jihad’. They were arraigned as accused in the FIR, but omitted from the chargesheet.
It was in October 2016, the NIA busted the members of IS module while they were holding a meeting at Kanakamala in Kannur. The NIA has arrested 11 persons in the case. It had filed chargesheet against eight accused recently.