What seems to have begun as a ‘charitable’ initiative offering free Arabic education has now been exposed as a sinister front for ISIS recruitment in Tamil Nadu. In a sweeping crackdown, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested four individuals accused of running Arabic colleges that targeted orphaned and emotionally vulnerable youth to indoctrinate them with extremist ideology.
4 More Accused Arrested by NIA in TN Radicalisation and Recruitment Case Involving Kovai Arabic College pic.twitter.com/fEkSZFAKQe
— NIA India (@NIA_India) June 18, 2025
The arrests were made on Tuesday in coordinated raids across Chennai, Coimbatore, and Dindigul. The accused — Jawahar Sadiq and Ahmed Ali from Coimbatore, Sheikh Dawood from Palavakkam in Chennai, and Raja Ahmed from Dindigul — are alleged to have played key roles in a network that used Arabic language education as a cover for radicalization. It is believed that these four individuals were brainwashed into terrorists by Madras Arabic College founder, Jamal Basha.
Arabic Colleges As A Cover For Recruitment
According to NIA investigators, the arrested individuals operated Arabic institutions that provided free language classes, specifically attracting students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The strategy, officials say, was deliberate: identify and isolate youth lacking parental care — orphans, children from broken homes, or those emotionally adrift — and gradually radicalize them under the guise of religious education.
One of the accused, Sheikh Dawood, has reportedly served as coordinator of the Trichy Arabic College since 2022. Authorities believe that the institution, like others in the network, was used not only to recruit but also to shape and harden young minds for violent jihad.
The Mastermind And Network
The operation is believed to have been orchestrated by Jamal Basha, the founder of Madras Arabic College. Pasha was arrested earlier, along with key associates Isha Syed Abdul Rahman and Mohammed Hussain, and a chargesheet has been filed against them. Their method involved using both physical classrooms and online platforms to spread Salafi jihadi teachings and promote pro-Khilafat ideology — rejecting democratic governance in favor of an Islamic state.
The NIA’s probe has also linked this ideological network to the October 2022 Coimbatore car bomb blast, carried out by suicide bomber Jamisha Mubeen. Officials say Mubeen had been radicalized through the same ecosystem and may have been financially and ideologically supported by its members.
The hallmark of this recruitment strategy, according to investigators, was emotional manipulation. By targeting those without strong family structures or parental guidance, the recruiters created dependency and loyalty. Students were first groomed under the pretense of religious learning, and over time, exposed to extremist narratives and calls to jihad.
The recent arrests are seen as key to understanding how the façade of Arabic education was used to mask operations aimed at building a homegrown terror base. Currently, all four newly arrested suspects are being interrogated in Chennai. Investigators are now working to identify how many students were radicalized, whether any sleeper cells were formed, and the extent of this network’s reach across Tamil Nadu and beyond.
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