The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested three persons and detained at least two others in alleged connection with an ISIS module case. Mohammed Ameen alias Abu Yahya, a resident of Kerala, has been accused of planning a conspiracy to radicalise youth in Kashmir, Delhi, Karnataka and Kerala.
Officials, who were aware of the development in the case, told News18 that preliminary investigation has suggested that Yahya and his associates were planning to carry out targeted killings. “They had identified people whom they called Kafir and wanted to kill them,” an officer said.
The arrests were made after searches were conducted by the NIA and local police at 11 locations in Kerala, Karnataka and Delhi. The investigating agency has registered the case against seven unknown persons.
“Simultaneous searches were carried out at 11 locations including eight locations in Kerala spread over districts of Kannur, Mallapuram, Kollam and Kasargod, two locations in Bengaluru and one in Delhi in a case pertaining to terrorist activities of a group led by one Mohammed Ameen @ Abu Yahya r/o Kerala,” a statement from NIA reads.
Yahya and his associates have been accused of running various ISIS propaganda channels on different social media platforms like Telegram, Hoop and Instagram and for propagating the “violent Jihadi ideology of ISIS and radicalising and recruiting new members to this ISIS module.”
Yahya, a Bahrain resident till early 2020 returned to India in March last year, as per NIA investigation. He was immediately on the radar of intelligence agencies as he travelled to Kashmir and then Delhi. The agencies suspect that he wanted to collaborate with Kashmiri terror groups. “He had been camping in Delhi for last two months for establishing connection with Jammu and Kashmir based operatives having allegiance to ISIS,” NIA said.
NIA, Special Cell, Delhi Police, Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) and Kerala Police were keeping a close eye on the group both on social media platforms and otherwise. Officials said custody of the accused will now be sought to question them further about how they planned to execute their conspiracy. “No weapons have been recovered from them so far. We will question them to find out more details about financial and logistical support,” an officer said.
During the searches, the NIA said it has recovered several digital devices including laptops, mobiles, hard disk drives, pen drives, multiple SIM cards of different service providers and incriminating documents. All seized materials will be sent for forensic examination.
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