BENGALURU/KOLAR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) along with Karnataka’s Internal Security Division (ISD) on Monday conducted searches at 15 locations in the State suspected to be belonging to members of the Al Hind Trust and allegedly having links with the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria (ISIS).
One person has been arrested from Bengaluru following the search. The arrested man Fasul-ur-rehaman, alias Pasi, was one of the main persons at whose wedding the group had met to decide on radicalising youngsters and encouraging them to join ISIS.
According to police, searches were conducted at 12 places in Bengaluru and three in Kolar connected with the recent arrest of Khwaja Moideen, who was allegedly masterminding a network of ISIS sympathisers by radicalising youngsters in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Khwaja Moideen, Syed Ali Navas and Abdul Samad were nabbed in January when they were trying to escape via Nepal to join IS, allegedly after “plotting attacks” across India.
Arrest of Khwaja Moideen uncovered sleeper cells in three southern states
Based on the information revealed by them, several others in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were arrested and found to have had links with the banned terror group Al-Ummah. Khwaja Moideen’s arrest, in particular, has provided a connection to various sleeper cells in the three southern states.
He was jailed in Tamil Nadu for his alleged involvement in the murder of Hindu Munnani leader KP Suresh Kumar in 2014. Moideen was released on conditional bail in July 2019, but by the end of the year, the Tamil Nadu police had begun a massive manhunt as he did not turn up for his court appearances.
It was then that the police uncovered a massive radicalisation plot by Moideen, which included re-organising and recruiting men to “fight for their cause” and join the Islamic State, said an investigating officer who’s part of the team.
The NIA had then re-registered the cases from all the states, and on Monday revisited the places to do Mahazhar at where the Chennai’s Q Branch, Karnataka’s ISD, Bengaluru’s Central Crime Branch (CCB) had arrested many young men across Bengaluru, Kolar, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. On Monday, police searched eight places in Gurappanapalya and four in KG Halli, DJ Halli and Thanisandra.
MEETING IN BENGALURU
The ‘Al Hind Trust’ office in Gurappanapalya near BTM Layout in Bengaluru was also searched on Monday. It was this Trust that was a cover for recruiting youths to spread ISIS ideology.
NIA conducted searches in the houses of the arrested and absconding accused and the office of Al-Hind Trust.
"During searches, a number of digital devices including nine mobile phones, five SIM cards, one laptop, two hard discs, four CDs/DVDs, 18 books, one autorickshaw, firecrackers and other incriminating documents have been seized from these locations," a release from NIA stated.
The release stated that the members of the terrorist gang conducted meetings in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and propagated ISIS ideology, procured arms and ammunition and other material for executing their plans.
In this connection, Sudduguntepalya police had earlier arrested five accused --- Mehaboob Pasha, Mohammed Mansoor Ali Khan, Saleem Khan, Zabiulla, Syed Azmathulla . Two other accused -- Matheen and Sajeb -- are still absconding.
The seized items will be submitted before the jurisdictional NIA Special Courts in Chennai and Bengaluru and the digital devices subjected to cyber forensic examination, the release said. Meanwhile, investigation in the case will continue as the officers suspect that Matheen and Sajeb have escaped to Kerala.
In Tamil Nadu, searches were conducted at 10 locations - one in Chennai City, one in Kanchipuram district, one in Toothukudi district, three in Salem district and four in Cuddalore district.