On 22 October 2023, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Imran Khan, a resident of Theni on charges of human trafficking and recruiting individuals for terror organizations. The Absconded Tracking Team (ATT) of the NIA in Bengaluru successfully located and apprehended the accused in Uthamapalayam, situated in the Theni district, following a carefully executed raid in the early hours of the day.
The arrested individual, identified as Mohamed Imran Khan, who also goes by the name Hama Najerbheeden and is 39 years old, had been evading authorities since June 2021.
The arrest comes after years of investigation and surveillance by NIA, which had been closely monitoring Imran Khan’s alleged illegal activities for over five years. During their inquiry, NIA uncovered disturbing details of Imran Khan’s involvement in recruiting individuals for the ISIS and facilitating their training abroad.
The investigation revealed that Imran Khan had successfully recruited individuals from India and then sent them for terrorist training overseas. It is believed that he used persuasive tactics to indoctrinate and radicalize youth, subsequently sending them to join the ISIS ranks. Furthermore, Khan’s illicit activities extended beyond national borders, as he was also implicated in bringing terrorists from Pakistan into India through Sri Lanka and then sent to various other countries including Canada.
Reports suggest that these Pakistani terrorists were first transported to Sri Lanka and then smuggled into Ramanathapuram, India, using illegal boats before being dispatched to various destinations, like Mangalore, Bangalore from where they made their way to other countries using fake documents. Following his arrest in Uthamapalayam, Imran Khan was swiftly transferred to Madurai by NIA officials for further interrogation.
NIA arrest ISIS recruiter imrankhan from Theni, TN. Will D-Stocks trend SorryPakistan now? pic.twitter.com/MO4N4lCmjY
— Vishwatma 🇮🇳 (@HLKodo) October 22, 2023
Tamil Nadu Becoming A Hub For Terrorists?
On 11 October 2023, the NIA conducted searches at the residence of A. Thajuddin Haamidih alias Muhammad Tajuddin in Madurai as part of a crackdown on Popular Front of India terrorists.
Syed Nabeel Ahammed, the fugitive chief of the ISIS Thrissur module was captured in Chennai by the NIA’s Fugitive Tracking Team thwarting his attempts to flee the country.
The NIA arrested nine people in December 2022 from a special camp for Sri Lankan refugees in Trichy after receiving information that they were all working with Haji Salim, a Pakistan-based drug smuggler. He is suspected of being involved in the March 2021 incident near Kerala’s Vizhinjam port, when Indian defense forces intercepted a boat carrying 300 kg of heroin, five AK-47 machine guns, and 1,000 rounds of 9mm bullets.
According to NIA officials, all of these incidents are connected to a group of Sri Lankan Tamils who are allegedly working to resurrect the banned terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) through drug smuggling and illegal arms dealing.
On 27 May 2021, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested an ISIS terror suspect in Mayiladuthurai who was wanted for a criminal plot in 2018 reportedly directed against a few leaders in Coimbatore including Indu Makkal Katchi Chief Arjun Sampath.
A bomb blast occurred outside Coimbatore’s Kottai Easwaran Temple on 23 October 2022, a day before the Hindu festival of Diwali. The suspected terrorist Jameesa Mubin, died in the explosion. NIA investigations has led to the arrests of 13 persons known to be Islamist sympathizers. It was also found that one of the accused was linked to the 1998 CBE serial blast convicts.
The NIA during its investigation also found that Jamesha Mubeen along with a few other terrorists hatched the Sathyamangalam conspiracy (the car bomb blast plan was concretized in the Sathyamangalam forests) to plan and prepare a terror attack to revenge Mohammed Azarudeen alias Azar’s arrest and to get him released from jail through a jail-attack.
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