KOZHIKODE: Intelligence and security wings have been wary of Islamic State’s growing presence in Kerala, but, now, a few old enemies might wake up from their slumber to give them deeper worries. The intelligence agencies are leery of Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Indian Mujahideen reviving their sleeper modules, which have been in hibernation for the last 3-4 years, in the state.
As per the IB reports, the ‘sleeper cells’ have been revived for subversive activities, including pushing fake Indian currency notes (FICN) of the newly-issued Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 denominations into the state to finance their activities and trigger unrest.
Though IS modules have been allegedly active in the state, conducting recruitment and forming zone-level grids in the last one year, other terror outfits have been inactive due to the lack of leadership after the arrest of Thadiyantavide Nazeer, LeT’s south zone commander.
“To avoid detection, these modules are suspected to be using proxies to push through the FICN to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. These currencies are brought in from neighbouring countries via West Bengal, Assam and Punjab,” said a senior intelligence officer.
Earlier this month, fake Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes were seized from Idukki in two separate incidents and a special team of the Kerala Police has initiated a thorough probe into the episode. Ernakulam Range IG P Vijayan said the possibility of terror funding to the state could not be ruled out.
MHA report
The intelligence agencies have been checking on the flow of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 FICN to southern states post demonetisation. The report said the maximum flow has been reported from Gujarat, West Bengal, Assam and Punjab. The security agencies have seized 22,677 FICN of Rs 2,000 denomination while they grabbed 12,956 FICN of Rs 500 denomination post note ban.