NIA conducts searches in Kerala in connection with ISIS Kasaragod module case

National Investigating Agency (NIA) on Sundau carried out searches at the houses of three suspects s part of investigation in ISIS Kasaragod module case. The NIA searched two houses in Kasaragod and one in Palakkad to gather more information about the ISIS Kasargod module.

According to NIA, the three persons whose houses were searched are suspected to have links with some of the accused persons in the said case who had left India join the banned terrorist organisation.

During searches, the NIA has seized a number of digital devices including mobile phones, SIM cards, memory cards, pen drives, diaries with handwritten notes in Arabic and Malayalam, DVDs of Dr. Zakir Naik besides untitled DVDs, CDs with religious speeches, books of Dr Zakir Naik and Syed Kutheb from the houses of the accused. The NIA will now examine and analyse the digital evidences forensically to know more about the modus operandi of the IS Kasargod module.

The NIA is also questioning the three suspects.

On Tuesday, the NIA had arrested an ISIS sympathizer from Delhi. The IS sympathizer identified as Mohammad Faiz was arretsed for allegedly conspiring to carry out blasts in Delhi, National Capital Region (NCR) and Uttar Pradesh.

Faiz was a key member of Harkat-Ul-Harb-E-Islam, which is a pro-Islamic State module. According to NIA, he was allegedly involved in founding the group and bringing other members in its fold.

"The case pertains to the Harkat-Ul-Harb-E-Islam group of terrorists who formed a gang which was engaged in acts preparatory to commission of terror attacks with a view to wage war against the government of India," the NIA had said in a statement.

In September last year, the NIA had arrested Nashidul Hamzafar, an accused in the ISIS Kasargod case after he was deported from Kabul to New delhi.

Hamzafar belongs to Kerala's Kalpetta. He was arrested in Afghanistan for illegally entering the country to join his associates in the ISIS. Hamzafar's arrest was related to the conspiracy hatched by some ISIS sympathizers from Kasaragod district of Kerala and their associates in 2015 to propagate the ideology of ISIS.