CHENNAI/TIRUVARUR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested two key accused in the Tamil Nadu Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) case, an official release said.
The accused — Kabeer Ahmed Aliyar and Bava Bahrudeen alias Mannai Bava — had allegedly conspired with others to propagate the HuT ideologies by conducting secret Bayaans (religious speeches).
The agency said the accused were also allegedly involved in organising an exhibition to showcase the military might of Islamic nations that would be invited (Nussrah) to overthrow the Indian government, established by law, by waging jihad (holy war).
Earlier on September 16, 2021, the NIA searched the house of Bahrudeen from Mannargudi and arrested him on charges of creating multiple accounts on social media platforms allegedly to disclaim and disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India. Sources said the 47-year-old was later enlarged on bail in the case.
The agency, which had registered the case against six accused persons last year after an initial probe by the Greater Chennai Police, further found during investigations that the accused were influenced by the extremist, radical and fundamental ideology of the HuT.
An international pan-Islamist and fundamentalist organisation, the HuT is working to re-establish Islamic caliphate and enforce the constitution written by the outfit’s founder Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani, NIA investigations show. The Government of India in October 2024 issued a gazette notification banning the HuT and all its manifestations and front organisation under the UAPA, 1967.
NIA is continuing its investigation to unearth the role of the co-conspirators, international network and funding of Hizb-ut-Tahrir.