KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested a Palakkad native who was planning a suicide attack in Kerala, as part of its probe against the Islamic State (IS) module active in the state. The investigation was launched following the Sri Lanka Easter blasts incident. The arrested is Riyaz Aboobacker, alias Abu Dujanan 28, of Kollengode, Palakkad, who was taken into custody from his residence on Sunday.
Riyaz is said to be a trader in skull caps used by Muslims, spray perfumes and other foreign goods. In the interrogation, he revealed he was planning a suicide attack in Kerala. Tourist destinations and religious places were his target. According to the NIA, a four-member IS-linked group was actively planning at t a cks in Kerala. The other two members of the group -Ahamed Arafat of Kaliyangad and Aboobacker Siddique of Nainmarmoola in Kasargod - are in NIA custody.
“He admitted he wanted to carry out a suicide attack in Kerala. During interrogation, he disclosed he had been in contact with absconding accused Abdul Rashid Abdulla alias Abu Isa for a long time online and had been following his audio clips, including the clip which he had circulated on social media platforms, instigating others to carry out terror attacks in India.
He revealed he was also having online chat with Abdul Khayoom alias Abu Khalid (the accused in the Valapattanam ISIS case) who was believed to be in Syria. He further disclosed he had been following the speeches/ videos of Zahran Hashim of Sri Lanka for more than a year and had also followed the speeches of Zakir Naik,” said an official statement by NIA.
According to NIA, the group led by Aboobacker was in touch with Abdul Rashid, Ashfaq Majeed and Abdul Khayoom, who had already migrated to Afghanistan and Syria. He will be produced before the NIA Court in Kochi on Tuesday.
NIA IG IN KOCHI
Kochi: NIA IG Alok Mittal on Monday reached Kochi to supervise the probe being carried out on the links of Zaharan Hashim, the mastermind behind the Sri Lankan attack, with the people of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Mittal evaluated the probe launched against people from Kasargod and Palakkad.