KOZHIKODE: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has picked up two persons with suspected links to the banned CPI (Maoist) for questioning. According to a press release issued by the NIA on Friday, it is suspected that the duo Vijith Vijayan and Abhilash Padasserry were instrumental in recruiting Alan Suhaib and Thwaha Fazal — the law students who were charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in 2019 — as members of the banned outfit.
The agency also conducted searches at the houses of both Vijith and Abhilash. Meanwhile, Abhilash, who is an online journalist, appeared before the media on Saturday to state that he was questioned and let off by Friday night. “I was questioned for a few hours, and an NIA officer dropped me back at my house. I was summoned for questioning on Saturday as well,” he said. He asserted that he was not acquainted with Alan or Thwaha. “But I know Vijith as the editorial board member of a Malayalam magazine,” he said. Abhilash was picked up by the agency from his house near the medical college.
According to sources, the NIA had also questioned one Eldho Wilson, who stays with Vijith at a rented house in Pariyangadnear Cherukulathoor. However, his name has not been mentioned in the release. Both Vijith and Eldho are Wayanad natives. According to the NIA, eight mobile phones, seven SIM cards, memory cards, laptop, pen drive, voice recorder, books and documents supporting Left-wing extremism were seized from their possession.
It is learnt that a Palakkad native was also questioned in Kozhikode in March in connection with the same case. Though he was summoned again on March 25, he failed to appear owing to the lockdown. It may be recalled that Alan and Thwaha were held from Pantheerankavu on November 1 last year. According to the NIA, they were nabbed while in the midst of a party meeting with C P Usman, who fled the scene upon spotting the police.
RAID AT SLAIN MAOIST’S HOUSE
Meanwhile, a police team led by the Perinthalmanna DySP conducted a search at the ancestral house of slain Maoist CP Jaleel, at Pandikkad in Malappuram on Friday. Mobile phones and posters were seized from the house. However, Jaleel’s brother C P Rasheed, who was present at the spot along with his mother and other relatives, alleged that four NIA officers had accompanied the police for the raid.
“The search warrant they showed us was in connection with a case registered at the Pandikkad police station. If that was the case, why did they have NIA officers with them?” Rasheed asked. He added that the mobile phones seized by the police belonged to those staying at the house, including a few who got stuck due to the lockdown. It may be mentioned that C P Jaleel was shot dead in an alleged encounter with the police at a resort in Vythiri, back in May, 2019.