In a disturbing development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested three individuals from Kerala on charges of recruiting new members for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
With the state now being seen as home to Islamic terrorism, the frequent raids and arrests of Jihadists from Kerala are an affirmation of the growing Jihadi network in the state.
On 15 March, the NIA conducted simultaneous raids across eleven locations in Kerala, Bengaluru and Delhi and arrested three Muslims hailing from Kerala. The accused have been identified as Mohammad Ameen alias Abu Yahya, Mushab Anuvar and Rahees Rashid. They have been charged under sections 120B, 121 and 121A of Indian Penal Code & Sections 17, 18, 18B, 20, 38 & 40 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The accused ran various propaganda channels on social media and recruited new members for the ISIS module.
NIA conducts searches at 11 locations in Kerala, Karnataka and Delhi in Kerala ISIS Module Case pic.twitter.com/gSIeseLyoL
— NIA India (@NIA_India) March 15, 2021
In Kerala, the raids took place in the districts of Kannur, Kasaragod, Malappuram and Kollam. The arrests come amid the impending Kerala Assembly elections.
The NIA also revealed that the accused had planned to migrate to Jammu and Kashmir to engage in terror activities. During the raid, the investigative agency also confiscated several digital devices including laptops, mobile, hard disk, pen drives, SIM cards and ISIS-related documents from the accused.
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