Afghan Sikh men mourn their beloved ones during a funeral procession in Kabul | AP
KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case against a Kasaragod native suspected to be involved in the Islamic State Khorasan Province’s (ISKP) attack on a Kabul Gurdwara that claimed 27 lives on March 25. This is the first case registered by the national agency after the NIA Act amendment permitting it to probe incidents overseas. The case is registered against Mohammed Muhsin from Thrikkaripur.
The NIA Delhi Unit is investigating the case. Though Muhsin was claimed to have disappeared from the country in 2018, no case had been registered against him. Earlier, another Kasaragod native, Mohammed Sajid Kuthirummal, was suspected to be the person behind the Kabul attack. But the NIA, with assistance from Afghanistan agencies, has managed to establish the identity of the person.
The NIA suspects that more Malayalis in Afghanistan could be involved in the attack.“As per the preliminary investigation, one Muhsin from Thrikkaripur, Kasaragod, Kerala and others who had joined ISKP are suspected to have been involved in the said terrorist attack,” the NIA statement read.
According to sources, Muhsin went to Malaysia in 2017. After returning, he left for the UAE in 2018. From the UAE, he is suspected to have joined the ISKP in Afghanistan. He met up with 14 other Kasaragod natives who had joined the IS in 2016.This is the first case in India under the new subsection in the NIA Act, as amended in 2019.
