New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday arrested the absconding leader of the IS Thrissur module from Chennai, thus foiling his plans to flee the country.
Siyed Nabeel Ahammed, the leader (Ameer) of Thrissur-based IS module, was apprehended by NIA’s Fugitive Tracking Team, which had been working on the ground for the past few weeks to track him.
The accused, who had been on the run and hiding out at various places in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for the past several weeks, had planned to escape abroad by using forged & fraudulent documents with Nepal as a transit point.
“Incriminating documents and digital devices have been seized from the possession of Siyed Nabeel, who is the third accused to be arrested in the case since July,” said the NIA.
In July, NIA had tracked and arrested one Ashif alias Mathilakath Kodayil Ashraf from his hideout near Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu.
The NIA, which had registered the case on July 11, based on credible information under various sections of IPC and UA(P) Act, has found that the Thrissur-based IS module had been conspiring to commit terror acts in Kerala.
It had been conducting recces besides raising funds for furthering ISIS activities through a series of illegal activities, including dacoities, in the state.
Islamic State (IS) is a transnational militant Islamist terrorist group that is also known as ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as well as by its Arabic acronym Da’ish or Daesh.
The organisation has intensified its activities in India by positioning modules in various states and active recruitment of motivated youth who subscribe to its jihadist philosophy.
The NIA has cracked down on these modules in a big way and has arrested several IS members and cadres operating across states to thwart the proscribed organisation’s terror agenda.