KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested one of the founder-members of Ansar-ul-Khilafah Kerala, a group that subscribes to the ideology of the Islamic State (IS), in connection with the terror strikes the outfit had planned in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The accused Sidhik Hul Aslam, 31, of Kanayakulangara in Thiruvananthapuram is the eighth accused in the case.
Sidhik was deported from Saudi Arabia after Interpol issued a Red Corner Notice against him. The arrest was recorded on his arrival at the New Delhi airport on October 28. He was brought to Kochi on Sunday and produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court and remanded in Kakkanad district jail. The court granted NIA seven-day custody of Sidhik. He was examined via videoconferencing. As per the chargesheet filed by NIA, Sidhik, along with Manseed, Shajeer Mangalassery, Swalih Muhammad, Rashid Ali, Ramshad, Mohammad Fayas, Safvan, Jassim N K, Moinudheen and Mujeeb Rahman, formed the Ansar-ul-Khilafah Kerala during August-September 2016. While Shajeer was killed in Afghanistan, six of the accused were convicted by the NIA court in November 2019.
“Sidhik worked as a labourer in Saudi Arabia. He was part of the Telegram groups started to further activities of Ansar-ul-Khilafah Kerala,” said a NIA source.Meanwhile, the NIA court on Monday granted custody of Mohammad Polakanni, who was deported from Georgia last month. He was produced before the court in Kochi and sent to NIA custody for seven days.
Though NIA had alleged that the outfit was a part of the IS module, the court in its verdict in 2019 claimed that they were guilty of the crime but not members of IS. It is alleged that the group had targeted politicians, police officers, judges in Kerala and Israeli tourists in Kodaikanal. The group was busted while holding a meeting at Kanakamala in Kannur in October 2016.