The Chennai Cyber Crime Police arrested six individuals under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly recruiting for Hizb ut-Tahrir in Royapettah. The arrested include Dr. Hameed Hussain, his father Mansoor, brother Abdul Rahman, and their associates Mohammed Maris, Khader Nawaz Sharif, and Ahmed Ali Umari.
The arrests were made following an investigation revealing that the group had used YouTube campaigns to recruit members for Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organisation banned in multiple countries. The Chennai Police submitted all case-related documents to the Tamil Nadu government, prompting the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to register a case and conduct further investigations.
On June 30, the NIA searched 12 locations across Chennai, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, and Trichy. The raids led to the arrest of Abdul Rahman and Mujibur Rahman (also known as Mujibur Rahman Altham Sahib) from Thanjavur district. Authorities seized mobile phones, laptops, SIM cards, memory cards, books, and documents promoting Hizb ut-Tahrir, Khilafah, and Islamic State ideologies.
The NIA’s ongoing investigation indicates that the arrested individuals had recruited members for the internationally banned organisation through their online campaigns. The case has since been transferred from the Central Crime Branch-Cyber Crime Police to the NIA, which handles all related documents and evidence.
Further investigations by the NIA will focus on financial transactions involving the arrested individuals. Officials plan to trace the money flow into their bank accounts and identify other potential beneficiaries. The NIA is also considering taking the six individuals into police custody for further questioning as part of the probe. Re-raids may be conducted based on newly acquired evidence and documents obtained from the initial investigations.
(With inputs from Puthiya Thalaimurai)
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