KOCHI: U K Hamsa alias ‘Biriyani Hamsa’, a professional cook recently arrested after being found to be the chief propagandist of Islamic State (IS) terror outfit in the state, had been under the NIA scanner since October 2016.
Earlier this year, NIA had interrogated Hamsa for several hours in connection with the IS module busted at Kanakamala in Kannur. According to NIA officers, Hamsa’s name was mentioned in the confession statement given by IS Kerala module members arrested from Kanakamala in October last. “Most of the persons arrested knew Hamsa very well. Earlier this year, we had summoned him for interrogation in Kannur. He was questioned for several hours.
However, we did not arraign him as accused in that case since there was no hard evidence to prove his direct involvement,” the officer said. However, the arrest of Kannur native Shahjahan, who was deported from Turkey, in July shifted the focus of intelligence agencies on a group from Kannur which was highly radicalised and wanted to achieve martyrdom by fighting for the IS in Syria.
Shahjahan, who is currently in NIA custody in New Delhi, is being grilled to know about people from Kerala who joined IS in Syria.
“In the statement given to Delhi Police, who first arrested Shahjahan, he claimed more than 20 persons attempted to join IS in Syria. He said most of them were radicalised by Hamsa. While a majority of them, who were working in Gulf countries, reached Syria, some were deported by Turkey after they were caught illegally crossing into Syria,” the officer said.
The NIA officers suspect even after IS lost its territories in Syria and Iraq, online activities to recruit more people into the outfit are still on. “There are people from Kerala and Karnataka who are based in Syria and trying to recruit people to IS. The online activities like uploading videos and religious classes are still going on,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, the NIA is waiting for the state government to report the arrest of IS-linked persons from Kannur. “The Kerala Government has to report the matter to the Centre within the prescribed time period suggested in the NIA Act. We can take over the case only after that. We expect the state agency to refer the matter to us without delay,” the NIA officer said.