KOCHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) investigation into an Islamic State (IS) module with operatives from Thrissur and Palakkad has revealed that the group believed in the ancient concept of ‘ghanimah’ -- which in Arabic means the spoils of war. This was submitted by the agency when the NIA court recently considered the bail petition of fifth-accused Saheer E P of Mannarkkad.
The case relates to the busting of the terror group module, formed in 2023, which was allegedly conspiring to target prominent members of society and religious places of other communities. Mathilakath Kodayil Asif, Seyid Nabeel Ahammed, Shiyas T S, Rayees T S and Saheer were arrested. Saheer was picked up for assisting Nabeel, the founder, and another member, Ameer, to go underground after NIA registered the case.
The agency submitted that the accused’s crimes were based on ‘ghanimah’, under which they believed in funding their activities by committing theft and robbery. The module members believed that money gained from stealing was booty that could be used to their benefit, the NIA said.
The central agency said Nabeel was a member of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and that he was involved in various offences, including a robbery, committed on April 20, 2023. He was later arrested by state police and lodged in Chavakkad jail. However, after being released on bail he continued in his criminal ways, even arranging funding for IS activities in Kerala.
After the arrest of Asif from Sathyamangalam, Nabeel approached Saheer, who arranged a mobile phone and SIM card for his wife. Saheer even provided his ID card to help Nabeel rent a room at a lodge in Alanallur. Saheer told interrogators that Nabeel was training him in share trading and that the phone and SIM card were for that purpose. He also claimed to be unaware of the criminal antecedents of Nabeel.
The NIA, however, maintained that reports of Nabeel’s arrest following the robbery were all over the media and that it was impossible to miss them. Moreover, after Asif’s arrest, reports of his links to Nabeel were also widely circulated. The call details and other evidence reveal that Saheer helped Nabeel give police the slip before he was arrested from Chennai in September of 2023, the agency said.
The NIA court dismissed Saheer’s bail petition, saying the allegations against him are serious. “On scrutiny of materials placed before me, the court is of the view that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against the petition is prima facie true,” judge P K Mohandas observed.
Group conspired to target elite people
The agency submitted its findings when the NIA court recently considered the bail petition of fifth-accused Saheer E P of Mannarkkad
The case relates to the busting of the terror group module, formed in 2023, which was allegedly conspiring to target prominent members of society
