KOCHI: In the wake of the Sri Lankan serial blasts, the Kerala police have started collecting details of 60 Malayalees associated with a faction linked to Tamil Nadu-based Thowheeth Jamaath, an organisation whose name cropped up during the investigation of Easter day attacks. It has been discreetly functioning for the Islamic State (IS) over the past two years.
The police have increased the surveillance after the IS circulated the video statement claiming responsibility for the blasts in Tamil and Malayalam in addition to Arabic and English. Foreign agencies have analysed the IS made the Tamil and Malayalam statements with the sole purpose of convincing the youth in southern states about its capability. The state intelligence has confirmed the 60 people, from Vandiperiyar, Perumbavoor, Thrissur and Palakkad, had attended meetings organised by Towheeth Jamaath in 2016 at Madurai and Namakkal.
“The video might have been originally made in Arabic and later translated into Malayalam and Tamil by local IS fractions. We’re analysing the development,” said a senior intelligence officer.
UNDER RADAR
State police chief Loknath Behera said the department has put certain elements under radar and is verifying the details
Video in Malayalam
Officers said the IS video’s Malayalam version, widely circulated through a few social media accounts, was found to be removed later
US-based The Atlantic reported, “...The pronouncement suggests the organisation has recruits fluent in what are essentially regional languages with lesser speakers.”