HYDERABAD: In a major blow to India's premier security agencies, nine persons -- eight from Tamil Nadu and one from Telangana -- are believed to have joined the Islamic State in 2016. The National Investigation Agency booked a fresh case to probe the matter on January 26, 2017.
The NIA learnt about the module of nine that was based in Chennai from central security agency inputs. The central agencies had interrogated three persons deported from Abu Dhabi for recruiting Indian youngsters for ISIS.
According to the NIA's FIR registered this Republic Day in Delhi and then Chennai, in January 2016, the agency took custody of Sheikh Azhar Al Islam Abdul Sattar Sheikh, Mohammed Farhan Mohammed Rafiq Shaikh and Adnan Hussain Mohammed Hussain, who were working in Abu Dhabi on behalf of ISIS "to identify, motivate, radicalise, recruit and train Indian citizens located both in India and other countries for planning and executing terrorist attacks in India and in other friendly countries".
The agency's probe had recently revealed that the Chennai-based module of nine persons, including one from Telangana and eight from Tamil Nadu, all reportedly under the age of 30 had managed to join IS in Syria.
“It has been revealed that a group of nine persons - eight hailing from Tamil Nadu and one from Telangana -- and some other unknown persons, with the intention to further the activities of Daesh/ISIS, hatched a criminal conspiracy in Chennai and other parts of the country by forming a terrorist gang which raised and received funds, organized training camps, recruited and trained some persons, and facilitated their travel to Syria, to join ISIS,” said the NIA.
The NIA has registered a fresh case (Suo moto) following the directions of Ministry of Home Affairs under sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, sections 17 (Punishment for raising funds for terrorist acts), 18 (punishment for conspiracy), 18 B (punishment for recruiting for terrorist act), 20 (for being member of terrorist gang), 38 (for associating with the terrorist gang), 39 (supporting terrorist organisation) and 40 (raising funds) of the UA (P) Act (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967).