KOCHI: The NIA on Tuesday conducted searches at residences of seven fugitive Keralites in Thrissur and Kozhikode districts. The fugitives are allegedly members of a terror group named Jund Al Aqsa in Syria.
Jund Al Aqsa is a proscribed terrorist organisation which was initially associated with Al-Qaeda splinter group Jabhat Al Nusra. Later they split and Jund Al Aqsa fought against both Islamic State (IS) and Syrian government forces.
NIA stated that searches were held at the residences of accused persons Mohammed Faaz, Mohammed Ihthisham, Abdul Sameeh, Rayees Rehiman, Nabeel Mohammed, Mohamed Shaheen and Mohammed Ameer. "During searches, nine mobile phones, fifteen SIM cards, one iPad, six laptops, three memory cards and various documents were seized," an NIA release said.
It was in January 2019 that NIA registered cases against fugitive operators after coming to know that several persons from Kerala while working in Qatar were radicalised and enrolled in Jabat Al Nusra between 2013 and 2019. Later when Jabhat Al Nusra split, they stood with Jund Al Aqsa faction.