Tamil Nadu: NIA arrests 14 for suspected ISIS links

The arrests were made after continuous searches and raids in TN in the past month

ISIS rep Representational Image | AP

The National Investigation Agency arrested 14 people on suspicion of having links to ISIS in different parts of Tamil Nadu. The 14 suspects are expected to be taken to Delhi for questioning on Monday.

The arrests have been made after continuous searches and raids in Tamil Nadu in the past one month. In Coimbatore, a total of seven persons with suspected links to ISIS have been arrested. They allegedly had plans to carry out suicide attacks, which were averted. In Chennai, four people have been arrested, who were allegedly having attack plans. The other accused were arrested from Madurai, Theni and Nagapattinam.

Sources claimed that the inmates of Puzhal Prison in Chennai are also being probed in this regard.

In June, the NIA had conducted raids in several places in Coimbatore to ascertain links to the group that carried out the suicide bomb attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday.

Earlier, on Sunday, the NIA conducted searches across Tamil Nadu under the Tamil Nadu Ansarulla Case, which was registered on July 9 against Syed Bukhari (accused no-1), resident of Chennai; Hassan Ali Yunusmaricar (accused no-2), native of Nagapattinam; Mohammed Yusuffudeen Harish Mohammed (accused no-3), native of Nagapattinam, and others.

They have been charged under sections 120B, 121A and 122 of the IPC and relevant provisions of the UA (P) Act, based on information that they had “conspired and conducted consequent preparations to wage war against the Government of India by forming the terrorist gang Ansarulla”. The accused persons and their associates had allegedly “collected funds and made preparations to carry out terrorist attacks in India, with the intention of establishing Islamic rule in India”.

On Saturday, the NIA searched the house and office of Bukhari in Chennai and the houses of Ali and Harish Mohammed in Nagapattinam.

During the searches, the NIA confiscated nine mobile phones, 15 SIM cards, seven memory cards, three laptops, five hard disks, six pen drives, two tablets and three CDs/DVDs besides documents including magazines, banners, notices, posters and books.

The three accused persons are being questioned by the NIA.