After conducting searches at 21 locations across Tamil Nadu on Saturday in connection with the Coimbatore car bomb blast and ISIS radicalisation and recruitment cases, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested four suspects.
The agency said that the searches led to the seizure of a large number of electronic devices and documents, including six laptops, 25 mobile phones, 34 SIM cards, six SD cards, and three hard discs.
It said that the searches were conducted at 11 locations associated with Madras Arabic College/Kovai Arabic College in connection with the radicalisation case which involved individuals engaged in clandestine radicalisation of youth under the garb of Arabic language classes and promotion of violent Jihad at their Regional Study Centres in Tamil Nadu.
Besides the Arabic classes, the radicalisation took place online, through social media platforms and mobile applications, such as WhatsApp and Telegram. The ISIS operatives were using the classes and the social media to impart radical sermons to propagate Khilafat and ISIS ideologies inimical to India’s constitutionally established principles of secularism, democracy etc., NIA investigations revealed.
The release said youth were also being recruited to commit terrorist acts and unlawful activities, such as the Coimbatore car bomb blast that took place in October 2022. NIA investigations had further revealed that 10 accused arrested in the blast case were associated with the Kovai Arabic College in Coimbatore.
NIA teams also swooped down on 10 other places connected with the car bomb blast case. Extensive searches were conducted at various places linked with the suspects, who were part of an encrypted mobile platform group, along with the accused arrested in connection with the ISIS inspired terror attack in Coimbatore.
Investigations also revealed that the suspects had eulogised Zahran Hashim, the deceased Sri Lankan terrorist who was preaching hate and violence and had orchestrated the attack that killed more than 250 civilians in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2019.
The suspects were found to have used the platform to discuss ISIS activities and prospects with a view of establishing the outfit’s foothold in India, the NIA said.
Among those arrested was Jameel Basha Umari, who floated the Madras Arabic college to promote extremism and radicalisation. Two others, Maulvi Hussain Faizy, alias Mohammed Hussain Faizy, and Irshath, former students of Jameel and Madras Arabic College, were responsible for rechristening Madras Arabic College as Kovai Arabic College. The fourth suspect was Syed Abdur Rahman Umari, who was in possession of incriminating literature linked to ISIS.
