The three youths, who were arrested by Tamil Nadu police for their suspected links with the Islamic State terror outfit, were planning to attack religious places, including temples, churches and mosques, in and around Coimbatore with the intent to kill civilians, the FIR has said.
The accused—Mohammad Hussain, Shahjahan and Sheik Safiullah—were arrested on Saturday under various sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. A Coimbatore sessions court has sent them to judicial custody till June 28.
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The arrest came after police conducted searches at their houses in the city on June 13 and seized some digital devices and incriminating documents. The raids were conducted based on information that the trio were staunch supporters of the ISIS, and had been propagating the terrorist outfit's ideology on social media.
Police said some pamphlets of Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) were also seized during the search.
On June 12, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had carried out raids at seven locations in the city and arrested Mohammed Azarudeen, the alleged mastermind of ISIS Tamil Nadu module who was a Facebook friend of Zahran Hashim, the mastermind of Sri Lanka Easter Sunday suicide bombings.
Azarudeen was the leader of the module and had been maintaining the Facebook page named 'KhilafahGFX', through which he propagated the ideology of ISIS/Daish, the probe agency said. The ISIS had claimed responsibility for the serial bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21 in which around nine suicide bombers were involved.
The NIA had registered cases on May 30 against Azarudeen, Sheik Hidyathullah, Akram Sindhaa, Aboobacker M., Sadham Hussain and Ibrahim alias Shahin, all from Coimbatore, for their alleged involvement in recruiting youth and planning terrorist attacks in south India, especially Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
