Suspected ISIS operative arrested in Chennai; he was planning attacks in Tamil Nadu, NIA says
The NIA arrested a suspected ISIS operative who the agency claims received funds from the global terrorist organisation in order to stage attacks in parts of Tamil Nadu.
In Short
- Suspected ISIS operative arrested in Chennai by NIA.
- The man who involved in furthering activities of ISIS in India, NIA says.
- The man and his accomplices were planning the attacks since 2013, agency says.
A suspected ISIS operative Shakul Hammed has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from Chennai for allegedly receiving funds, on behalf of the terrorist organisation, to establish its presence in the city and further stage attacks in parts of Tamil Nadu.
Hammed is among the nine, who had hatched the conspiracy to launch the attacks. They had helped a dozen of people leave for Syria and Iraq by mobilising funds for them.
NIA this year had registered a case against the nine accused at the NIA police station in Delhi on January 26. They are Haja Fakkrudeen (Cuddalore), Khaja Moideen (Cuddalore), Shakul Hameed (Chennai), Ansar Meeran (Chennai), Masood Asarudeen (Tirunelveli), Sadiq Basha (Nagapattinam), Mohammad Sayed Abu Thahir (Karur) and Mohammed Thabraze (Chennai).
"The accused and their accomplices, with the intention of furthering the activities of the proscribed terrorist organisation ISIS, has been hatching conspiracy since 2013. They formed a terrorist gang which had raised funds, organised meetings, recruited and facilitated the travel of some persons to Syria to join the terror outfit," an NIA official said.
During investigation it was found that main accused Haja Fakkurudeen, an Indian-origin Singaporean citizen and a native of the Tamil Nadu's Cuddalore district, had joined the ISIS in Syria in January 2014, along with his family.
Fakkurudeen had visited India twice between November 2013 and January 2014, when he had had conspiracy meetings along with co-accused Khaja Moideen, Shakul Hameed and others at various places in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka with the intention of recruiting more people into the ISIS.
"In pursuance of the conspiracy, Shakul Hameed had attempted to migrate to ISIS-controlled territory in Syria in August 2015, through Turkey, where he was intercepted by Turkish authorities and deported to India," said a senior NIA official, adding that he will be produced before the NIA special court in Chennai.
Fakkruddeen and his family attained citizenship of Singapore six years ago. In November 2013, he, along with his wife and three children, went to Syria, but came back to India as he could not establish any contact with IS operatives there.
In Syria, he is reported to have stayed with one Chechen Mujahideen. On January 22, 2014, he left Chennai for Syria through Turkey and has been untraceable since.
On September 15, accused Khaja Moideen alias Abdullah Muthalif, the son of Chinna Thambi Ambalam of Salapathputhu Nagar in Cuddalore was remanded in the case by a NIA special court in Chennai.
The custody of Moideen has been sought by the concerned chief investigation officer in Delhi.
Officials said their names had surfaced during the interrogation of Adnan Hassan Damoodi, 36, a resident of Bhatkal in Karnataka and a former Indian Mujahideen operative, who was deported from the UAE last year for propagating the ideology of the IS on social media platforms.