TN-LD NIA

3 suspected ISIS supporters held in Coimbatore; TN module
Mastermind remanded to custody
(Eds: Updates with detention of 3, remand of mastermind)
Coimbatore, Jun 13 (PTI) Three suspected ISIS supporters
were detained here Thursday by police for interrogation over
alleged conspiracy to carry out attacks in the city, a day
after the NIA arrested the terror outfit's Tamil Nadu module
mastermind following searches.
Police said they carried out searches at the houses of
Mohamed Hussain, Shahjahan and Sheik Safiullah and seized
"incriminating" documents and digital devices.
"The three persons are being interrogated regarding the
"incriminating materials seized during the search," a police
release here said.
The seized devices included cellphones, SIM cards,
computer hard disks, bank account documents, pen drives,
memory cards.
It said the searches against the three were carried out
following information that they were "staunch supporters" of
ISIS and have been propagating the terrorist organisation's
ideology in social media.
They were also supporters of Zahran Hashim, mastermind
of Sri Lanka Easter Sunday suicide bombings, and had praised
his act besides conspiring to stage terror attacks here, the
release said.
A case under section 18, 38 and 39 of Unlawful
Activities Prevention Act 1967 had been registered against the
three, it added.
The police action came after the National Investigation
Agency Wednesday carried out raids at seven locations here and
arrested Mohammed Azarudeen, the alleged mastermind of ISIS
Tamil Nadu module who was a Facebook friend of Hashim.
A report from Kochi said Azarudeen was produced before
the NIA court there and it remanded him to judicial custody
Thursday.
During the searches in Coimbatore, the NIA had seized
digital devices, including 14 mobile phones, 29 SIM cards, a
large number of incriminating documents and a few pamphlets of
Popular Front of India and Social Democratic of India, both
under the scanner of security agencies.
The agency had received the information that the accused
persons and their associates were allegedly propagating the
ideology of proscribed terrorist organisation ISIS on social
media with the intention of recruiting vulnerable youth into
the group for carrying out terrorist attacks in south India,
especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the NIA said.
The intention of the those detained by NIA was to
recruit vulnerable youth into the ISIS or Daish for carrying
out terrorist attacks in south India, especially in Kerala and
Tamil Nadu, it had said in a release last night.
Azarudeen was the leader of the module and has been
maintaining a Facebook page 'KhilafahGFX', through which he
had been propagating the ideology of ISIS, it said.
The NIA has alleged that Azarudeen has been a Facebook
friend of suicide bomber Zahran Hashim and other members of
the module have also been sharing radical contents attributed
to Hashim, over the social media.
The ISIS had claimed responsibility for the serial
bombings in Sri Lanka on April 21 in which around nine suicide
bombers were involved. PTI NVM TGB SS
VS VS

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from a PTI feed.)